Secret of the Chosen Heir
by oceansong
Summary: Post HBP, now AU. Harry is searching for the remaining Horcruxes. Cho's family gets attacked, and her little sister is kidnapped. A story of tragedy, adventure, and above all love. HarryCho, RonHermione, implied DracoGinny. !COMPLETE!
1. Encounters

Hey all!! Welcome to my first piece of fanfiction! I really hope you enjoy and I _really really _hope that you'll review. Please be nice, but also be honest! This has some (actually very little) spoilers for HBP.

Also, some of the spells here might be spelled wrong. Please let me know if they are. My books got confiscated by my mom cuz I was too obsessed with them...:D.

Disclaimer: Basically, if you've heard or read about it from the books, I don't own it. It belongs to JK Rowling. I also don't own the name "Meilin", that belongs to the anime Card Captor Sakura, but the character is mine. I just borrowed the name.

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**Secret of the Chosen Heir**

**Chapter 1: Encounters**

Harry blew his bangs out of his face, "I'm going to go where Dumbledore took me that day first."

"But why? It's not like You- I mean Voldemort, would be stupid enough to hide two Horcruxes in the same place!" Hermione said knowingly.

"Yeah mate! Why do you want to do back there?" Ron asked curiously.

"Because I need to know what I am going to be looking for..." Harry replied, his green eyes narrowing, "If I am going to be destroying more Horcruxes, I need to know what I am looking for to find them."

"But you can't go by yourself!" Hermione cried.

"It's easier if I do this alone. If all three of us go missing, Mrs. Weasley is going to worry herself sick, not to mention get really angry when we return." Harry looked at the despair on Hermione's face, "Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to be destroying anything or battling or anything of the sort."

"I guess we can't change your mind once it's made up eh mate?" Ron said wryly.

Harry grinned, "I guess not."

"Well alright, just be careful Harry!" Ron clapped Harry on the back.

"And _do_ send for us if something goes wrong alright?" Hermione said, still unconvinced.

"Really Hermione, don't worry" Harry held up the gold coin that Hermione had bewitched for the DA two years ago, "Everything will be just fine! Cover for me for a while though alright?" With that, Harry gave his two best friends one last grin and Disapparated.

"Oh Ron, I _do _hope Harry stays out of trouble." Hermione sighed.

Ron put a comforting arm around her, "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be fine."

--Harry--

Harry stumbled a bit as he arrived with a small pop, still not used to the claustrophobic feeling of Disapparating. He looked around at the sunny beach with a very blue and beautiful ocean.

"Bloody hell!" he swore quietly, "This isn't the right place!"

Harry was about to Disapparate again when a lone figure on the beach caught his eye. Unable to help himself, he stepped closer and saw that the figure was a girl sitting on the sand and hugging her knees, looking out over the water. She was wearing a white blouse and dress and her shiny black hair hung down to her waist. Because of her Muggle clothing, Harry thought at first she must be a Muggle. But coming closer, he gasped. The girl he was looking at was Cho Chang.

"Ch-Cho?" Harry choked out.

She turned her head and looked up at him, eyes growing wide in recognition, "Harry?"

"What are you doing here?" they exclaimed at the same time, then laughed.

"Ladies first!" Harry said, mischievously.

"Oh alright. Here, sit. It's quite uncomfortable looking up like this." she replied, moving a book that Harry didn't notice before.

"What's that?" Harry asked, gesturing to the book.

"A book that Father told me to read." she said lightly.

"_Heirlooms and Other Important Items of the Magical World's Most Powerful Families_." Harry read, "Sounds like something Hermione would read."

Cho laughed, "I guess so. Father said that stuff like this is very hard to find so the people working at this may want to give me a job."

"Who wouldn't give you a job! I mean, you got all your N.E.W.T.S right?"

She shrugged, "Yeah, but sometimes one of the only good qualities I have are my brains."

"Don't say that!"

"Why not? I'm not brave, I'm not exactly cunning or witty, nor am I exactly humble."

Harry thumbed absentmindedly through her book. His eyes snagged on a page, "Hey! Your family's in here!"

She glanced at the page, "I guess. Mother always said our family was powerful, but she never said why."

"What's your family's item? It doesn't say in here. It just says 'unknown'."

She shrugged, "No one ever told me. Apparently, it's some secret that will be passed down to one that is chosen."

But Harry was no longer listening, his eyes were frozen on the page that talked about the items from the founders or Hogwarts. There were pictures of each of the items along with where it was last seen.

"Cho, would you mind if I borrowed this book for a while?" he asked carefully.

"I think so. Father has a couple more copies at home. Why?"

"Oh, I just think Hermione would be really interested in this stuff."

Cho raised an eyebrow, then shrugged, "Alright."

They sat in silence for a while. Harry's mind was racing in every direction. With this book, their search for the Horcruxes would be made a lot easier because they would have an idea of what they are looking for.

"Harry?" Cho's voice brought him out of his thoughts, "I-I'm sorry."

"What? For what?" Harry asked confusedly.

"For everything. For not going to help you when the Death Eaters attacked. For assuming I could talk to you about Cedric. For not understanding. Everything I was foolish enough to do."

Harry stared at her. She was looking sadly out at the water, but there were no tears like he expected, "It's alright I guess. There's nothing to forgive. It's not like I blame you for not putting you life in danger or anything."

"I'm not brave like you or your friends. I never was. I couldn't bring myself to help."

"Really Cho, I don't know why you're blaming yourself, but I really don't blame you for anything."

She turned to him with a small smile, "Thanks Harry."

"Well well well! Who do we have here? Baby Potter and his Muggle?" a high evil-sounding voice rang out behind them, ruining the moment.

Harry jumped to his feet, whipping out his wand and found himself face to face with Bellatrix Lestrange.

"You!" he shouted.

"Yes, me." Bellatrix smirked, "What a lovely encounter! I thought I would go for a nice walk on the beach and what do I find? Potter with his little Muggle. How amusing. You better put that away, Baby Potter, you wouldn't want your little girlfriend to find out what you really are do you?"

"Leave us alone!" Harry growled through gritted teeth as he stepped protectively in front of Cho.

"Oh how wonderful! Baby Potter is going to protect his little Muggle girlfriend. But to no avail!" Bellatrix pulled out her wand with a flourish.

"I'm warning you, Bellatrix." Harry's anger was rising uncontrollably. He could almost feel Cho trembling in fear. _Bellatrix thinks Cho's a Muggle, and my girlfriend. She's going to do everything she can to hurt Cho first._ Harry thought.

Bellatrix smirked again, "_Expelliarmus!_" Harry's wand flew out of his hand. He clenched his teeth. Without his wand, there is no way he can protect Cho. So caught up was he in his anger that he failed to remember that Cho had her wand. While Bellatrix was preoccupied with Disarming Harry, Cho had slowly drawn her wand though she was trembling so hard that it would be futile to use any spell.

Bellatrix was walking slowly towards them now, wand still pointed at Harry. Her eyes caught sight of Cho's book lying in the sand and picked it up with a flick of her wand. She smiled, "I think Master would be very pleased to have this book. I remember he used to collect trinkets like these."

Harry lunged for her, but he wasn't fast enough.

"_Crucio!_" Bellatrix hurled the curse at Harry. Immediately, he fell to the ground and writhed in agony.

"Harry!" Cho fell on her knees beside him, careful to keep her wand out of sight.

"Liking the pain Baby Potter?" Bellatrix sneered as she intensified the pain.

Harry's scream snapped Cho to her senses, only she can help him now, "_Expelliarmus!_" Cho cried, jumping up.

Her spell deflected off the Shield that Bellatrix managed to conjure just in time, "Oh, so not a Muggle." Bellatrix said delightedly.

Cho gripped her wand harder and continued to point it at Bellatrix, trying not to let her fear show.

"Let's see," Bellatrix looked thoughtful, "Chinese, pretty face, shiny black hair, nice form...must be from the Chang family."

Cho's eyes widened as Bellatrix named her family from her appearance. She knew that her family looked alike in some ways, but she never knew that their looks were distinctive solely to her family.

"Master really likes your family. Pity your mother rejected his offer to join him." Bellatrix leered.

"You're lying!" Cho cried out, "My family never had anything to do with-with HIM!"

"Really? We shall see. _Crucio!_"

"Cho!" Harry pulled her down beside him before the curse hit her.

"_Stupefy!_" Cho yelled. Again, her spell deflected.

"Give it up Chang, a little snippet of a girl like you can't stand a chance against an experienced Death Eater like me! _Expelleriamus_!"

"_Protego_!" Cho managed to bring up a Shield before the spell hit her wand. But she knew she couldn't fight much longer, her fear was getting the best of her. She needed Harry.

"_Accio _Harry's wand." Cho breathed. His wand flew to her outstretched hand.

"How dare you steal from me!" Bellatrix screamed, "_Avada Kedavra_!"

Cho froze in terror, watching the green light fly closer and closer to her. As if in slow motion, another jet of light appeared and deflected the Killing Curse into the nearby sand, which promptly exploded on impact. She blinked and turned in the direction the light had come from.

"Bellatrix," a very tall person in a black cloak drawled. His face was extremely white with snake-like nostrils and slanted red eyes. Cho shivered to look at him.

Harry let out a horrific yell and clutched his scar.

"Master!" Bellatrix went white and fell to her knees at the newcomer's feet.

Cho's couldn't believe her ears, then she stared at him in terror. Voldemort himself was standing not five feet away from her.

"Cho, just go! It's not safe!" Harry said breathlessly, still clutching his scar.

She didn't answer, but continued to stare in terror as Voldemort approached her. He caught her face in his icy hands and tipped it up to his own.

"How very much you like your mother." he commented slowly.

Cho gulped and whimpered as he stroke her cheek with his finger.

"Leave her alone Voldemort!" Harry roared, standing shakily.

"I will do whatever I wish Potter!" Voldemort snapped, letting go of Cho, then he said in a softer voice to Cho, "It is too bad you are not the one."

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Harry seethed, pulling Cho back behind him, his wand pointed at Voldemort.

"That is of no concern to you boy. It is too bad I will have to dispose of her so she can't go talking to her family about me." the Dark Lord smiled evilly at Cho, "Perhaps even now your mother will see the error of her ways."

Cho remained speechless, her terrified eyes fixed on Voldemort.

"Don't you-" Harry was cut short as Voldemort carelessly flung him aside and pointed his wand at Cho.

"Cho!" Harry cried in horror as she collapsed, bleeding hard.

Voldemort smiled down at her still form and without so much of a glance at Harry or Bellatrix, disapparated. Bellatrix followed suit after tucking something into her robes.

"Cho!" Harry cried out again as he hurried toward her. Blood was spreading rapidly in the sand and Cho didn't seem to be conscious.

"Oh god, please don't be dead Cho!" He tentatively took her pulse. It was weak, but it was still there. He relaxed a little bit, then tensed again as he tried to think of a way to get help. Fast.

_St. Mungos!_ Harry slapped himself mentally for not thinking of it before. He carefully took Cho into his arms, took a deep breath and Disapparated.

--Later--

"So tell me again Harry James Potter, _why_ didn't you send for us once you figured there would be danger?" Hermione asked for the millionth time.

Harry sighed. After he had brought Cho to St. Mungos Hospital, he had quickly owled Ron and Hermione telling them to come to St. Mungos. They had arrived promptly, without Mrs. Weasley much to Harry's surprise, though what lie they must have told he didn't want to know. He had told them everything that had happened. Talking to Cho, Bellatrix's attack, Voldemort's arrival, strange behaviour and attack on Cho, everything there was to tell. While Ron was still staring at him in shock, Hermione was nearly hysterical.

"Look Hermione, I was just so shocked that I didn't think about anything but keeping her and him away from Cho." Harry said wearily.

"You could've been killed!" Hermione bursted.

"Yeah thanks, Hermione." Harry mumbled.

"But there's one thing I still don't get," Ron said thoughtfully, "What did V-Vol-de-mort want with Cho?"

Harry shook his head, "I don't know, but..." he trailed off.

"What?"

"When he was looking at Cho, it felt as if he was...longing for something..." he paused, "Then it turned into disappointment."

There was a long pause as Harry's words sank in.

"Maybe her family has something that he wants or belongs to him." Hermione said presently.

"You mean a Horcrux?" Ron asked disbelievingly.

Hermione shrugged, "Well from what Harry told us about Cho's book and their family heirloom being passed down to one that's chosen and all, it could be possible."

Harry was about to reply when a new voice interrupted them.

"Harry Potter?"

Harry turned to see a young Chinese man with a serious face, "Uh...yes?"

"I am Cho's older brother, Wei Chang," he offered his hand, which Harry shook.

"Hey! I recognize you! You work as one the secretaries for the Minister!" Ron exclaimed.

Wei looked surprised, "Yes, I am. I assume you are related to Percy Weasley?"

Ron scowled at the mention of Percy, "Yeah, I'm his brother."

"Pleased to meet you as well," Wei shook Ron's hand and turned back to Harry, "Will you please tell me what happened to my sister, Harry?"

Harry sighed and told all there was to tell. Wei turned very white at the story and his face became contorted with worry, "Thank you Harry. I must inform my parents of this."

"Wei!" an older looking woman approached them with her husband and a young girl, "The doctor said we can go see Cho now."

"Yes Mother, I'm coming." Wei answered, "Thank you again Harry."

"Er, no problem Wei." Harry said awkwardly as Wei left to join his family.

"Did you guys know Cho had an older brother and younger sister?" Hermione asked.

"No! I though she was an only child!" Ron responded.

"Um, excuse me Harry?"

They all turned to see the youngest Chang standing behind them.

"Er...hi?" Harry blinked. She was almost an exact replica of Cho, but instead of brown eyes like the rest of her family, she had very startling violet eyes.

She blushed, "Hi, um...I just wanted to say thank you for saving my sister."

"I didn't do anything."

She shook her head and paused as if thinking, "You'll always protect her right?"

"What?"

"I mean...you'll...never let anything happen to Cho right?"

"Well...no I wouldn't if I could help it..." Harry wondered what she was getting at.

She suddenly stared at him dead in the eyes, Harry felt a little lost as he stared back, unable to look away.

"Promise you'll protect her. No matter what." she whispered.

"I-" Harry stuttered.

"Please..." Her eyes suddenly glinted almost harshly.

"Alright..." Harry breathed.

She stepped back, looking embarassed, "Thanks. Bye!" she turned and ran off.

"What was that all about?" Ron asked, perplexed.

"She was a little...freaky..." Hermione mused.

Harry shrugged, "She's probably just worried about Cho. Does she go to Hogwarts? I can't remember if I've seen her before."

"3rd year, Ravenclaw." Hermione answered, "Think her name was Meilin or something."

"Where ever you got that information..." Ron snorted, "We should go back, Cho's safe now and we're gonna catch it if we don't get back to my place soon."

"Right, let's go." Harry sighed and shook his head to clear it.

The trio walked out of the hospital and after making sure that no Muggles were around, Disapparted back to the Burrow. None of them saw Meilin Chang watching them in the shadow of the building with a frightened and regretful expression on her pale face.

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Well! Did I leave you hanging? hehe...I might continue this and I might not. It depends on the amount of reviewers that want to see it continued...so please review!!!!!!!!

A note on the pronounciation (in case you were wondering): Wei is pronounced _Why_. Meilin is pronounced_ May lin. _I know I suck at making up Chinese names, even though I'm Chinese. :P

Review please:D


	2. Discoveries

Hey all!! Here's chapter 2!! Hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long! hehe...please remember to review!!

Thanks to Chapter 1's reviewers Froggie2 and Sheen Rox!!! You guys are the best!!!!

**Disclaimer**: Basically, if you've read about it in one of the books, I don't own it, that belongs to JK Rowling. I also don't own the name "Meilin", that belongs to the anime Card Captor Sakura. I own the character though, I just borrowed the name.

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**Secret of the Chosen Heir**

**Chapter 2: Discoveries**

"Miss Chang?"

Cho looked up and forced a smile, "Mr. Weasley."

Percy smiled at her over his horn-rimmed glasses, "The Minister would like to know if you are ready for the Daily Prophet interview tomorrow."

"Just a few more minor adjustments and I will be." she replied, wishing he would leave.

"Wonderful, I will inform the Minister." He paused, "Would you like to join me for dinner tonight?"

She sighed, "I'm rather busy, Mr. Weasley."

"Oh alright then, I will see you later then Miss Chang." he turned and left.

Cho sighed again. She had been the spokesperson for the Minister of Magic for about 4 months now, ever since she was freed from the hospital after what she liked to call "The Incident". Percy Weasley had not left her alone since she started working there despite her older brother's many warnings to leave her alone.

"Cho!" her friend Marietta bursted into he office.

"Yes Marietta?" Cho asked wearily.

"Did you hear? Harry Potter hasn't returned to Hogwarts!" Marietta said enthusiastically, "And neither has his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger."

"Really?" Cho's ears perked up at the mention of Harry, "Who told you?"

Marietta shrugged, "It's rumoured all over the place."

Cho looked at her friend's heavily made-up face, "You'll do anything to find victory over Hermione won't you."

"Of course!" Marietta huffed, "She ruined my life when that spell took effect."

Cho was about to retort, but stopped just in time. She wasn't in the mood for a fight.

Marietta checked her watch, "Merlin, look at the time! I have to run! Merry Christmas Cho!"

Cho sighed when Marietta left. Right, Christmas, she had almost forgotten. She buried her face in her hands. She was so tired. She needed a break.

"Cho? Are you alright?" Wei breezed in with a stack of parchment.

"Yes Wei, I'm fine. Just a little tired."

Wei grinned, "Is my hard-working little sister complaining already?"

Cho glared at him, "I mever said that!"

"Whoa, little sister! I was just kidding." he smiled, "I came over to see if you're ready to go home yet. It's almost 7:00."

"You go on ahead Wei. I still have some more polishing to do." Cho said.

"Alright then. Don't wear yourself out on Christmas Eve Cho!"

"Bye Wei."

Cho turned back to the speech she had been preparing and started polishing it to sound as sophisticated as possible. An hour later, she stretched, satisfied with her work. She quickly put the speech in the Minister's mailbox and got ready to leave. She was just locking her office door when she heard muffled gasps from down the hall. Hand on her wand, she went to investigate.

She turned a corner and crashed into another figure.

"Oh sorry," she apologized quickly then stared at the person in front of her, "Harry?!"

Harry grinned, "Hey Cho!"

"What are you doing here?" Cho exclaimed.

"Just wanted to see how you were doing. I caught wind of the beautiful new spokesperson for the Minister and thought it would be you."

Cho rolled her eyes, "It didn't have to be me you know."

"No, but I had a 99 chance of being right," he smiled slyly, "And I was."

Cho laughed, "Alright fine!"

"And as an apology for crashing into you, how about going to dinner with me?" Harry asked, a twinkle in his eye.

Cho couldn't resist, "Oh alright. Let me owl my family first though."

She quickly scribbled a note on a piece of parchment and waved her wand. The parchement immediately folded itself into a paper airplane and flew off.

"That's going to find your family?" Harry asked in amazement.

"No, it's just flying to my owl." Cho laughed again at the look of wonder on Harry's face, "Shall we go now? Or are you going to stare after the parchment forever?"

Harry laughed, "Right, let's go."

Harry took her to a nice restaurant on Diagon Alley. It wasn't a very romantic restaurant, but nevertheless, it was a nice one. Harry couldn't stop watching Cho. She was even more beautiful than the last time they had met. She had a sparkle in her eyes and her hair looked softer and shinier. There was a flush in her cheeks as she laughed and talked with him and a look of genuine happiness. He could feel his heart racing just looking at her.

_Stop it!_ He scolded himself, _You already have a girlfriend remember? She's waiting for you at the Burrow!_ Even so, Harry couldn't help but wish Cho was his girl.

"Hey..." Cho's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright? You kind of zoned out on me."

"I'm fine." Harry said awkwardly.

They were quiet for a while.

"I heard you didn't return to Hogwarts this year..." Cho said presently.

Harry scowled inwardly, "Who told you that?"

"Marietta."

"Who? Oh...her..."

"Yeah...is that true?"

Harry paused and decided to tell her the truth, "Yeah."

"Why?"

At that moment, the food arrived. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, grateful for the opportunity to change the subject. For the remainder of the meal, the two talked about Cho's work, family, plans for Christmas and everything else. Harry carefully avoided the topic of relationships, but one question slipped through his lips before he could stop it.

"Are you still going out with Michael Corner?"

Cho looked a little puzzled, "No, I never actually dated him."

"Oh." Harry was relieved, so he still had a small chance.

"Are you still with Ginny?" Cho asked.

"Er...yeah.." Harry shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh." Cho's expression became unreadable.

They finished the meal in awkward silence. Harry tried desperately to get another lively conversation going, but failed.

"Thanks for dinner Harry," Cho said after Harry paid the bill.

"No problem Cho," Harry smiled, "I'll take you home."

"No, I can go myself. Shouldn't you get going to visit Ginny anyways?" Cho asked bitterly.

"I told Ron to tell his mom that I was coming to visit you first."

Cho was speechless, "Really?"

Harry nodded, and grinned to himself when she gave him a pleased smile.

"I'm Apparating though," she said doubtfully.

"Then, I'll just have to do a Side-Along Apparation with you."

She raised an eyebrow, "Someone is certainly stubborn."

Harry gave her a wide grin, "I know. Something I got from my dad."

Cho laughed, "Alright then, hang on."

With Harry holding firmly onto her arm, Cho Disapparated. When they stopped spinning, Harry heard Cho gasp and felt her weaken. He followed her gaze and stiffened. Hanging above her house was the Dark Mark.

With a small cry, Cho broke free from his grasp and ran towards the house.

"Cho! Wait!" Harry ran after her, his wand drawn.

She froze in the doorway and screamed.

Harry caught up to her and wished he hadn't looked. Wei was lying the doorway, clearly dead with a shocked expression on his face.

"No!" Cho sobbed as she bolted past her brother's body and into the house, Harry hot on her heels.

Moments later, they found Mr. Chang in the kitchen. His face was frozen with a look of pure agony. Harry mentally noted that he was probably tortured with a Cruiciatus Curse before being killed. Cho continued to run about the house and finally stopped when they found Mrs. Chang. She was lying in a pool of her own blood.

Cho was staring at the still form of her mother, tears falling freely down her face.

Harry knelt beside Mrs. Chang, looking for the wound and found it a second later. There were two large puncture holes in her chest. It looked as if she was bitten by a giant snake. _Nagini_. Harry thought darkly. _Voldemort used Nagini to kill Cho's mother_. His blood began to boil._ I am going to kill him_.

He looked at Cho. She looked as though she was about to collapse. Quickly, he went over to her and put his arm around her and led her out of the house, murmuring words of comfort.

"Cho, look at me. Cho?" Harry took her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. Her eyes were unfocused and dark with terror and her face was deathly pale.

"Bloody hell Cho, come back to me!" Harry shook her. There was no response from her. She continued to tremble and shake.

Without thinking, Harry planted his lips on hers and kissed her hard. He could feel her freeze in shock, then soften lightly and kiss him back with just as much force. After a few moments, Harry broke away, breathing hard.

"Cho, I need to you listen to me." Harry said, resting his forehead against hers.

She nodded mutely.

"I'm going taking you to Ron's place. It's not safe here. We'll go there and decided what to do after we both calm down a bit alright?"

She nodded again.

Harry started to lead her further away from the house, but she pulled him back.

"What?" he looked back at her and found her staring at a piece of parchment on the ground near them.

Tentatively, Harry picked it up and swore as he read it.

_I have your little sister. _The parchment read simply, yet full of evil. There was no signature, but there was no need for one. The Dark Mark in the sky said it all.

Cho was still trembling. Harry knew she read the message too. He gritted his teeth, took her into his arms and Disapparated to the Burrow.

--The Burrow--

"Harry mate! We've been-" Ron stopped short when he saw Harry's furious face and Cho trembling in his arms, "What happened mate?"

"Voldemort attacked her family," Harry said through clenched teeth, "Get Hermione to take Cho to bed."

"No." Cho said faintly.

"Cho-" Harry began.

"No."

Harry sighed, "Alright. Tell your mom I'm here, Ron. And tell her Cho's here."

"Right, come inside while I go do that mate." Ron turned and dashed into the house.

"C'mon Cho," Harry murmured into her ear. Keeping his arms around her, Harry slowly helped her into Ron's house and sat her down beside the fireplace. After a few moments, Mrs. Weasley bustled out of the kitchen.

"Harry!" she enveloped Harry in a fierce hug, "How are you dear?"

"I'm alright Mrs. Weasley, thank you." Harry replied, "I'm afraid I can't say the same for Cho though."

"I've already contacted the Order. Remus and Tonks are in the ktichen and I think Minerva should be here soon." Mrs. Weasley said in a low voice after giving Cho a sympathetic glance.

Harry nodded and knelt in front of Cho. Her eyes were glazed and full of fear. They were almost black in contrast with her very cold white skin. He took one her hands in his. They were ice cold.

"Here, give her some of this, it should help her warm up." Mrs. Weasley handed a steaming cup of hot tea to Harry.

Harry put it in Cho's hands. She took it, but didn't drink, but continued to stare into the fire with unfocused eyes.

"Hello Harry." Lupin's voice came.

"Lupin!" Harry's eyes lit up slightly at the sight of the Maurader. If possible, Lupin looked even more disheveled than the last time Harry saw him. His smile was warm, but it didn't reach his eyes. They remained serious and weary.

After a few mintues, more of the Order arrived and Harry told them everything he could about Cho's family being murdered. There was a pause as everyone let the story sink in.

"What are we going to do?" Mrs. Weasley asked cautiously.

Professor McGonagall looked grave, "We need to rescue Miss Chang's little sister. But how, I don't know."

"I wish Dumbledore was here..." Hermione sighed under her breath to Harry and Ron, "He would know what to do, and even if he didn't, he would provide a sense of security."

"Yeah..." Ron agreed quietly.

There was a lot more discussion between the Order members, but Harry stopped listening. He was watching Cho. She had sat unmovingly in her chair the whole time with that same blank expression on her face. Eventually, everyone decided to continue the discussion at a later time and left. Mrs. Weasley sent them all up to bed and tried to give Cho a sleeping potion, which Cho refused silently. After trying for a couple more minutes, Mrs. Weasley gave up and put her to bed in Ginny and Hermione's room.

--Hours Later--

Harry couldn't sleep. He had tossed and turned for several hours, wide-awake. His mind kept turning to Cho. He wondered if she was going to be alright. He wondered if she was going to be her old self again. But most of all, he wondered how he was going to tell her how much he cared for her. Finally, he gave up trying to sleep and quietly got out of bed to check on Cho. He found the girls' room door open slightly. Peering in, he saw Cho's bed was empty. His breath caught. Quickly, Harry turned and ran down the stairs.

He sighed in relief. She was sitting in front of the fireplace, hugging her knees and watching the dying embers of the fire. He was about to go to her when someone whispered his name. He whirled around.

"Ginny?" Harry looked at her in disbelief, "What are you doing up at this time?"

She just looked at him, saying nothing. Then, she beckoned him to come with her and led him into a dark corner away from Cho.

"Ginny, what's wrong?"

"You love her don't you..." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

Harry was shocked, but he recovered quickly, "What are you talking about Gin?"

"Harry don't lie to me!" Ginny's voice broke, "If you love her, just say so honestly!"

Harry didn't know what to say. He had never meant to hurt Ginny like this.

"I mean," she continued, "We broke up already. You don't have to think that you are still with me."

"Gin..." he started slowly, "I-I'm sorry."

Ginny smiled at him through her tears, "At least you're honest Harry." she paused, "So I guess this is the true end huh?"

Harry winced at her words.

She stepped closer to him, "I won't forget the time we had Harry. I won't forget you." She kissed him lightly on the lips. He returned it.

"I'm really sorry Ginny." he whispered when they broke apart.

She shook her head and gave him a little push towards Cho, "She's waiting for you."

He stared at her speechlessly.

"Go!" she pushed a little harder.

He walked towards Cho in a daze. When he turned around again, Ginny was gone. Harry shook his head, attempting to clear it. Then sat down beside Cho and wrapped his arms around her.

"Harry?" Cho whispered faintly. She threw her arms around him and began to sob into his chest.

"Shh," Harry murmured into her hair, "It's alright Cho, it's gonna be alright."

"She's out there with- with Him! She's all alone Harry! What am I going to do!" Cho sobbed, clutching Harry's shirt.

"I know Cho," he said soothingly, "We're going to get her back. I promise."

Eventually, Cho's sobs subsided and her breathing became regular and even. Harry looked down at her and found she had fallen asleep. He sighed and cradled her gently, pulling her closer to him, leaning against the foot of a chair.

"I promise we'll get Meilin back Cho..." he whispered again, resting his cheek on her hair, "I promise..."

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Whoaaa, that's a lot happening for one chapter!! Let me know if it's going too fast!! And I'm really sorry to all HarryGinny fans. I'm a HarryCho fan myself and I had to break them up if I wanted to have my great desire of seeing Harry and Cho together, please don't hate me!!

Yes I realize Harry is being kinda a jerk, I didn't even realize what I was doing until I was done... . whooops...

Please review:D


	3. The Chosen Heir

Hey all!! Yay Chapter 3! hehe! oh just a warning, this chapter focuses only on Meilin. There won't be any Harry, Cho, Ron, Hermione or anyone in this chapter. Just bringing you up to date on everything that going on with this little girl. Please leave a review

Thanks to Chapter 2's reviewers Black's Phoenix and Chang Kuei!! It was so nice to have encouragement:D

**Disclaimer:** Basically, if you've read or heard of anything from the books, I don't own it. That belongs to J.K. Rowling. I also don't own the name "Meilin". That belongs to the anime CardCaptor Sakura. I own the character though, I just borrowed the name.

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**Secret of the Chosen Heir**

**Chapter 3: The Chosen Heir**

Meilin Chang's eyes slowly fluttered open as she awoke. Blinking several times, she sat up and surveyed her surroundings. She was in a very large cold room. The only piece of furniture in there was the large bed that she was sleeping in. Meilin rubbed her temples, trying to ward away her headache.

_Where am I? _She wondered, _What happened?_

She vaguely remembered helping her father prepare the table for dinner and receiving Cho's owl telling them that she was out with Harry Potter and would be back later. She remembered an odd loud knocking on the door, Wei's terrified gasp when he opened the door, a tall person in black robes sweeping into the kitchen and a wand pointed at her.

"Ah, you have woken at last..."

Meilin started and stared at the person standing in the doorway. He looked familiar, too familiar.

He smiled as he came and sat down beside her, "You know who I am...the face that you see so often in your dreams. The face you see when you feel that surge of power within you..." He stroked her cheek with his long icy fingers.

Meilin's eyes grew wide in horror as she felt It rising in her. She felt It longing for this man's touch, longing to belong to him again. She closed her eyes and pushed It down as she had so many times when she felt It rising. This time, It wouldn't obey her. Meilin found herself smiling at him, the evil in his slanted red eyes mirrored in her violet ones.

"You can't control It anymore girl. It is me, It will only obey me now." he said softly, his eyes glinting evilly.

_NO! _Meilin yelled at herself, _You CAN control It! Concentrate, just like mother taught you. No one can control It but you!_ Taking a deep breath and concentrating as hard as she could, she beat It down and once again, resumed control over It.

"Interesting. You have enough mind power even to control a piece of my soul." the man mused.

"The Heir of Chang could never be controlled by a Horcrux, Voldemort." Meilin shot back daringly.

"You dare to speak my name?" Voldemort asked, clearly surprised, but at the same time delighted, "You are certainly braver than I thought."

"You have your soul to thank for that!" Meilin snapped. Inside she was trembling with fear, but she didn't dare show it.

"Ah yes, the only Horcrux that I did not protect with Dark Magic." He smiled at her again, sending chills down her spine, "That will change today. _Legilimens!_"

It was only with the extensive training in Occlumency that Meilin did with her mother that she was able to block Voldemort from seeing her mind.

"Very well trained," he mused after a short pause, "Perhaps it will be easier if I let you see how your mother came to have my Horcrux..." he pointed his wand at her head and before she had a chance to react, Meilin found herself plummeting into Voldemort's mind and memories.

--Voldemort's memory--

"Hey Ye! When's Quidditch practice?" a voice called out.

"Today after lunch. How many times do I have to remind you Chang?" a petite beautiful Chinese girl answered coolly, flipping her long raven black hair over her shoulder

A handsome young Chinese man approached her, out of breath, "Maybe if you date me, I won't have to beg to hear your melodious voice so much, Zi Qing..."

The girl blushed, "You flatter me too much Li Kun."

Li Kun's warm brown eyes lit up delightedly.

"I have to get to class, Li Kun, I'll see you later."Zi Qing smiled sweetly at him, turned on her heel and walked away.

Suddenly a hand shot out and grasped her arm, pulling her into the shadows. Zi Qing cried out.

"Shh...It's only me." a handsome pale young man whispered into her ear.

"Tom?" Zi Qing asked, taking care to keep her voice low, "What do you want?"

"You," came the simple answer, "Come, let's talk somewhere else. It's much too public here." He led her out of the castle and into the Forbidden Forest.

"Tom, we're not allowed to be in here." Zi Qing whispered fearfully.

"Trust me, it's alright." he suddenly stopped and pulled her into a fierce kiss. She struggled against him, but he tightened his grip. His hands slipped into her robes and gently pulled out her wand. He broke the kiss and tossed her wand into the nearby bushes, smiling at her.

"Tom! Give me back my wand!"

"No, not until I'm finished with you."

She backed away, "Please Tom, I didn't do anything to you. Just give me back my wand...please."

He shook his head, "I want you and I want something that only you have. _Imperio!_"

After a few moments of silence, Zi Qing cupped her hands in front of her and chanted a few words under her breath. Slowly, a warm yellow glow appeared over her hands and a phoenix feather slowly came out from her heart area.

"Yes," Tom Riddle whispered, "Yes! The object of Ravenclaw!" He stunned Zi Qing and pointed his wand at it and said the spell that Professor Slughorn had told him about. He screamed at the immense pain, then fainted, Zi Qing beside him.

--Meilin--

Meilin reeled back from this memory, trying to get out of Voldemort's mind, but he held her still.

"It's not over yet," he whispered.

Everything swirled in her eyes again.

--Voldemort's second memory--

KNOCK! KNOCK! Voldemort knocked on the door to a large house.

"I'll get it dear!" a woman's voice called out. The door opened and the woman gasped, "Tom? What are you doing here?"

"It's Lord Voldemort now, Zi Qing." Voldemort growled, "I wish to speak to you. Alone."

Zi Qing looked at him fearfully, then called into the house, "Li Kun! I need to step out for a minute! Take care of Wei without me for that long ok?"

There was a muffled response mixed with the cries of a small child.

Zi Qing sighed and turned to Voldemort, "Where are we going?"

He smiled sinisterly, "Somewhere quiet." He grabbed her arm and Disapparated.

After they stopped spinning, Zi Qing looked around, "Where are we Tom?"

"My palace."

Indeed, looming above them was a huge mansion. Zi Qing looked at it disbelievingly.

Voldemort suddenly pulled her close to him. She struggled against him, but he would have none of it.

"Let me go Tom! I'm married and a mother in case you didn't notice!" she snapped.

"Yes I know." he replied softly, "And you are with child right now..." His hands ran over her flat abdomen.

She struggled harder and he tightened his grip, "Join me..."

Shocked, Zi Qing stopped struggling and stared up at him, "What?"

"Join my side. Join my Death Eaters. I will reward you well, Zi Qing."

Horror filled her beautiful brown eyes, "And murder innocent people? People who have done me no wrong? Kill my friends in cold blood? No! I could never join you! Not for all the riches in this world!"

Voldemort's face twisted in fury as he released her from his steel-like grip, "Fine! But you will live to regret that decision!"

Zi Qing looked at him in fear, turned quickly and Disapparated, leaving Voldemort watching after her.

He smiled, "It's still safe. She didn't destroy it. She knows it's there, oh yes, she can feel it within her. She will pass it down to one of her children and until then, I will leave it alone."

--Meilin--

Meilin collapsed onto the bed once Voldemort released her from his spell. She couldn't believe what she had just seen. Her own mother had been friends with Voldemort. He had seduced her. Taken advantage of that friendship and used her. She felt her anger rising. She hated him, hated him with all of her being.

"Now, girl..." he said stroking her cheek once more, "I want you to summon the feather for me. I will put it under better protection. That way, you can be free from it's spell. Wouldn't you like that?"

Shocked, Meilin stared at him, unmoving.

"Summon it for me girl." his voice was rising dangerously.

"N-No!" Meilin cried twisting away from him.

"I'm losing patience with you girl! Summon it!"

"No!" Meilin jumped off the bed and dashed as far away from him as she could. He swept up to her in less than a second.

"Summon it for me!" he shouted, grabbing her arm.

"No!"

_SLAP!_ Meilin was thrown to the floor by the strength of his blow. She held her flaming cheek and stared at him, her heart beating wildly out of control.

"I didn't use magic on you to protect my Horcrux," Voldemort seethed, as if reading her mind, "Don't think I didn't use it because I want to protect you!"

Meilin continued to stare at him, fear now showing plainly on her pale face.

Voldemort looked at her fear with pleased satisfaction then turned and bellowed out the door, "MALFOY!"

There was an immediate pounding of feet and a tall boy with silvery hair and cold blue eyes appeared at the door, out of breath.

"Yes Master?"

"_Crucio._" Voldemort answered coolly. The boy immediately fell to the ground, writhing and screaming.

"No! Stop!" Meilin cried out.

Voldemort stopped the Curse and turned to her, "Are you ready to obey me?"

Meilin looked at him, the boy's scream still filling her ears. Her lips trembled, not wanting to give an answer.

Voldemort flung the boy into a wall and Cursed him again.

"No! Please!" Meilin flung herself at Voldemort's feet, "He's innocent! Please stop!"

He glared down at her, "You will obey me. If you don't, he will take your punishment for you. Remember that." he turned and swept away.

Meilin flew over to the still form of her whipping boy. There was a thin trickle of blood running down his face, but he was still conscious.

"I'm so sorry!" she whispered, tears gathering in her eyes, "Here let me heal that cut." She felt in her pocket and was relieved to find her wand. She quickly waved it over his cut, just as her father taught her a couple days ago when she had cut herself on a broken piece of glass.

"Who the hell are you anyways?" he snapped rudely after she finished healing him and helped him into a sitting position, "Why the hell didn't he want to hurt you?"

"Because I..." she trailed off, "I have something that he wants."

He raised an eyebrow, "So?"

"Hurting me would be hurting it." Meilin looked away, "I'm sorry he took out his anger on you."

Surprisingly, the boy shrugged, "It's about time he did it, I've been expecting punishment for the longest time."

Meilin stared at him, "Why?"

"I didn't obey him properly, someone else had to finish my task for me. I'm surprised he hasn't killed me yet." he stopped and scowled as he realized how close he had been to revealing all his secrets to this strange girl, "Who are you anyway?"

"Meilin Chang," she said quickly, holding out her hand.

He shook it warily, "Chang? You related to Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker?"

Meilin nodded, "She's my older sister."

"So you go to Hogwarts?"

She nodded again, "Third year, Ravenclaw."

"My name's Draco Malfoy. Seventh year, Slytherin." he paused, "I don't go to school anymore though."

She stared at him, "Why not? Were you expelled or something?"

Draco glared at her, "I didn't say that did I?"

"Oh, sorry. I'm just naturally curious." Meilin said sheepishly.

There was a very long pause. Draco didn't move from his position on the floor and Meilin continued to kneel beside him.

"I should go," Draco said abruptly, standing up.

"No! Please don't go!" Meilin caught his arm and clutched it.

He stopped and glared at her with his piercing blue eyes..

She quickly let go of his arm, "It's just...I just...I just have to many questions!" she stammered, tearfully.

Draco sighed, then sat down beside her again, "What do you want?"

"What happened to my family?"

"I don't know."

She looked at him in the eye, "Yes you do. Tell me. Please."

He said nothing.

"Please Draco, I don't want to have to pry into your mind unwillingly." she gasped and covered her mouth, "I didn't mean that! I'm sorry!"

He looked at her wearily, "I don't think you want to know what happened."

"I do. Please tell me."

Draco swore he saw the evil, impatient glint in her violet eyes that the Dark Lord so often had, "Alright, I'll tell you. I wasn't really there though, I was supposed to keep a lookout. But one of the Death Eaters told me everything. They went in and killed your brother right away. Just killed him on the spot. Then we found you, the Dark Lord did something and you got knocked out. They brought you out of the house with orders not to touch you. Your father put up a fight, so they tortured him and killed him. Meanwhile, the Dark Lord apparently took Nagini with him to find your mother. They had a short argument or something, then Nagini bit and killed her. Didn't eat her, surprisingly, just killed her."

Meilin was watching him with a mix of shock, horror, and sorrow in her eyes.

"What about Cho...?" she managed to croak out, "Did she...?"

"She wasn't in the house. They found a parchment saying she was out with Harry Potter and would be back later. So the Dark Lord left her a message and we left." Draco couldn't help feeling sorry for this young girl. She was obviously trying very hard to hold back her tears, but soon those tears began to spill over and she cried freely. He patted her shoulder awkwardly, not used to showing compassion.

Quite suddenly, a curse shot out of her wand and narrowly missed him.

"What was that for?!" Draco hollered, jumping away from her.

Another curse shot out and Draco realized she wasn't aiming at him, for it went straight into herself. A large open cut appeared where the curse hit and blood gushed out.

"Oh my god, what to you think you're doing?!"

There was no answer, Meilin merely looked up at him and then collapsed in a dead faint, blood still gushing out of her at an incredible rate.

Draco managed to catch her before her head hit the ground, "SOMEBODY HELP!"

There was a pounding of feet and several Death Eaters burst into the room with a frenzy of questions.

"What happened?"

"Did you kill her?"

"What's going on?"

"EVERYBODY GET OUT OF HERE!" Severus Snape thundered, "NOW!"

The Death Eaters scurried away from the Dark Lord's favourite as he knelt beside Draco, pointed his wand at her and began whispering spell after spell and a monotonous voice. Soon, the cut closed. Snape produced a small vial from inside his robe and poured it into her mouth.

"She's asleep now. You will need to tell Master what happened." Snape said under his breath.

Draco nodded.

"Get out of here!" Snape barked at the other Death Eaters, who were watching the whole time.

There was a scurry of movement and Draco was alone with Meilin once more. With a sigh, Draco picked her up, surprised at how light and frail she was, and laid her on the bed. He looked at her for a moment and couldn't help but admit to himself that she was very pretty. Even prettier than Cho. He shook his head.

_What am I doing, thinking she's pretty? When did I care for some girl so quickly? _He mused.

Stealing one last look at the now-sleeping form of Meilin, Draco quickly left the room and went to find Voldemort.

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Note on the pronounciation of the Chinese names (in case you were wondering): Ye Zi Qing is pronounced _Yee Zee King; _Li Kun is pronounced _Lee Koon_; Wei is pronounced _Why_; and Meilin is pronouced_ May Lin_. (I suck at making up Chinese names, I know)

I apologize if that was kinda dry and also if I revealed everything a little early. Also, I don't know how long it's going to be until I post again because I don't even have the next chapter planned yet. If you have an idea for me, please let me know! I would be very grateful for ideas.

Please review :D


	4. Call and Response

Hey all!! Sorry I was delayed in posting this chapter. I had the most terrible writer's block and I didn't know how I wanted this chapter to go. Basically, this chapter is a whole load of crap. Feel free to not read it, I won't feel offended. I know this is crap. If you read though, please leave a review!

Anywho, thanks to Sheen Rox for all your ideas!! They're a huge help!

**Disclaimer:** Basically, if you've read about it from the books, I don't own it, that belongs to J.K. Rowling. I also don't own the name "Meilin", that belongs to the anime Card Captor Sakura. I own the character though, I just borrowed the name.

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**Secret of the Chosen Heir**

**Chapter 4: Call and Response**

_Tap tap_. There was a light knock on the door. Draco snapped out of his reverie and quickly opened the door.

"Hello son." Narcissa Malfoy smiled slightly, her arms laden with a tray of food.

"Mother," Draco nodded, then took the tray, "Thanks."

"How is the girl?"

"Alright, no change." Draco lied, briefly glancing over at the window seat where Meilin sat. He knew she was anything but 'alright', but he wasn't about to tell anyone that.

Narcissa nodded and after giving her son a quick kiss on the cheek, turned and left.

Draco walked cautiously over to Meilin and put the tray in beside her.

"Meilin?"

She didn't respond.

"Meilin!"

Slowly, Meilin turned to him. Draco was shocked at the change on her face, but didn't show it. Her violet eyes were empty and hollow, completely void of life. Her cheeks were sunken and her skin was a sickly white. Even her long hair hung limp and lifeless around her.

"Eat something." Draco pointed to the food.

Again, she didn't respond. She just looked at him with those empty eyes. Finally, she sighed softly and took a piece of bread from the plate.

Taking one last look at her, Draco turned and took his place by the door.

_4 days, its been 4 days since she was brought here and already she's like this. What is she going to be like if this keeps going?_ Draco thought, _Bloody hell, she needs to get out of here._

The door burst open and Voldemort swept in.

"Master," Draco scrambled to his feet, eyes on the floor.

Voldemort ignored him and went to Meilin. She didn't seem to notice his presence.

"Are you ready to obey me now and summon the feather girl?" he drawled coldly.

She looked up at him, "No," she said tonelessly.

Voldemort looked ready to explode. Obviously, he had never been defied for so long. He grabbed her arm and brought his face close to hers, "Summon it, _now_!"

Meilin looked back at him, then spat in his face.

He recoiled, yelling in extreme anger. Wiping his face, he drew his wand and turned on Draco.

"Do you remember when Potter cursed you, dear Draco?" Voldemort asked, shaking with rage.

Draco kept his face expressionless, but his insides were churning with fear. Of course he remembered. He almost died when Potter cursed him last year in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"Why don't I remind you?" Voldemort drawled, levelling his wand, "_Sectusempra!_"

Draco screamed as he felt a white-hot slash across his chest. He fell on his knees, clutching his wound.

"_Sectusempra!_" Voldemort said again.

Another slash, and then another. Draco felt his consciousness fading as Voldemort continued to curse him.

Suddenly he felt someone shuddering beneath the curses that were meant for him. He blinked hard and recognized Meilin kneeling in front of him, shielding him from Voldemort.

Voldemort yelled in frustration and stopped his curses. He looked down at Meilin, bleeding and glaring up at him, lips clamped into a thin line. Without a word, he swept out of the room.

"What the bloody hell were you doing?" Draco snapped, whirling her around.

"I don't want you to take my punishment for me anymore," she whispered faintly.

"You bloody fool!" he fumed, though inwardly he was touched. No one ever showed this much care for him before, not even his mother.

"Draco." Snape's voice came from the doorway.

"Snape!"

Snape pointed his wand at Draco's wounds in response, but Draco stopped him, "No, heal Meilin first."

He raised his eyebrows, but did as Draco asked then turned to him again and healed the wounds wordlessly. He was about to leave when Meilin clasped his arm.

"Please help me." she whispered.

"What do you want me to do?" Snape sighed after a moment.

"Send an owl to my sister. Tell her I'm still alive."

"Are you insane, Meilin? If Master finds out, we're _all_ dead!" Draco said, staring at her in shock.

"Please Professor, please help me." her voice was getting fainter.

Snape looked at her, gently released his arm from her grip and left the room. The door closed with a soft click as Meilin blacked out in Draco's arms.

--Meanwhile...--

Harry dropped the dish he was drying and fell to the floor, yelling and clutching his scar.

"Harry!" Cho dropped to her knees beside him, "Harry! What's wrong?"

Mrs. Weasley dashed into the kitchen with Ron and Hermione hot on her heels.

"Harry!" Ron shook him, "Harry mate, snap out of it!"

Finally, Harry stopped yelling. He looked up at the four worried faces peering at him and groaned, rubbing his scar.

"Harry, what happened?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"He's angry, really angry." Harry managed to gasp as Cho helped him into a sitting position.

"Poor dear, come on, let's get you to bed. You need to relax." Mrs. Weasley said, already bustling them upstairs. After Harry was securely tucked into bed, Mrs. Weasley tried to shoo Ron, Hermione and Cho out.

"But Mum, what if it happens again and no one is there to hear him?" Ron asked.

"And Mrs. Weasley, is it really a good idea to leave Harry alone?" Cho added anxiously.

"We promise we won't disturb him, Mrs. Weasley." Hermione said pleadingly.

After a few more minutes of pleading and convincing, Mrs. Weasley finally gave in and left them all alone.

"Harry," Hermione said once she casted a charm on the door to prevent anyone from hearing their conversation, "Did you just feel his feelings, or did you see something as well."

There was a pause, then Harry sighed, "He was torturing someone. I didn't see who it was, but it was bad. It was like he was taking out all his anger on whoever that was."

"Was-was it...Meilin?" Cho asked hesitantly.

"I don't know," Harry answered, taking her hand comfortingly, "Don't worry, I'm sure Meilin is still alright."

As if emphasizing what Harry said, there was an insistent tapping on the window. A brown, angry looking owl stood outside, glaring at Ron as he opened the window. The owl flew in, nearly knowing Ron over, landed in front of Cho and stuck out it's leg at her. Cho quickly untied the parchment from it's leg and it took off, nearly knocking Ron over again.

"Bloody owl, how rude!" Ron mumbled, "Who's owl is that anyway?"

"Cho? Cho, what's wrong?" Hermione reached out and took the parchment from the now white and shaking Cho. Hermione read it and gasped.

"What's with you two?" Harry asked, confused.

Hermione handed the parchment to him, wordlessly.

_She is alive, but you need to get her out quickly. He is growing impatient in his house. _Harry read, "Who do you think sent it?"

"Obviously someone that's pretty close to the Death Eaters or he or she wouldn't know all that." Hermione said, rolling her eyes at Harry.

"You don't think...that it's some kind of joke?" Cho said tearfully.

"'In his house', where d'you reckon that is?" Ron asked reading the note again.

"Riddle's mansion," Harry said immediately, "The place where his father lived."

"How do you know that mate?" Ron asked skeptically.

Harry paused, "I just do. I'm quite sure that's what it meant."

"What are we going to do, assuming you're right Harry?" Hermione asked.

Before Harry could answer, there was an explosion of light above them and a single reddish-yellow feather floated onto the bed. When it landed, it promptly turned into a magnificent sword.

Harry picked it up and recognized it at once, "The sword of Godric Gryffindor!"

"What's that doing here?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"Maybe this will answer your question." Hermione handed another piece of parchment to them.

_I think you will need this very soon. The Horcrux that you are after now will be both the easiest and the hardest to destroy. Good luck, never lose hope, Harry._ The note read.

"The hardest _and _the easiest to destroy? What's that supposed to mean?" Ron asked.

Hermione shrugged, "Who knows? Who do you think sent it Harry?"

Harry didn't answer. He was staring at the note with shock.

"Harry? Is something wrong?" Cho asked with concern.

"Impossible, it can't be." Harry whispered, still staring at the note.

"Oy Harry! What's impossible?" Ron waved his hand in front of Harry's face.

"This is Dumbledore's writing, I recognize it." Harry said quietly.

There was a shocked silence.

--Later that night--

"We'll go right after everyone is in bed," Harry whispered urgently to Cho, Ron and Hermione before they all headed down to dinner.

The dinner passed by quite uneventfully. Nobody seemed to notice the unease that surrounded the 4 teenagers, who cast each other nervous looks every now and then. After dinner, Harry excused himself and one by one, the 4 teens disappeared into Harry and Ron's room.

"They look nervous. I wonder what's wrong." Mrs. Weasley commented worriedly.

"Oh Molly, don't worry, I'm sure they're fine." Professor McGonagall said dismissively, "Thank you for the dinner Molly, I think I shall head back to Hogwarts now. Good night." With that, she Disapparated away.

Lupin stroked his chin thoughtfully, he had a vague idea of what Harry was planning, but he wasn't about to tell Molly about it. So instead, he too thanked her for the excellent meal and left the Burrow with Tonks.

Ron and Harry sat upstairs listening to the last of the conversations die down through Extendable Ears. When the house was at last still, the four teens crept out of the house.

"Harry, do you have any idea how we are going to get to _his_ house?" Cho whispered safely outside.

"We'll Apparate," Harry replied calmly.

"But how? We don't even know where it is or what it looks like! We'll get splinched trying!" Hermione countered.

"That's alright. _I _know where it is and what it looks like. All you guys have to do is hang on to me and I'll Apparate us there!" Harry said, his voice betraying the confidence of the words.

"Will that work?" Ron asked doubtfully.

"Look, it's our best shot. We might as well give it a try. I've got my Invisibility Cloak and the sword. I think we're about as ready as we'll ever be."

"I don't see the sword," Ron said, earning himself a glare from Hermione.

Harry grinned, "Right here mate!" He showed them the same reddish-yellow feather that turned into the sword before, "Think it transforms by thought."

There was an awkward silence as the friends summoned up all their courage.

"Well?" Hermione asked expectantly, trying to hide her fear.

"Let's go." Harry mumbled. Cho linked arms with Harry, Hermione linked arms with Cho and Ron attached himself to Hermione. Taking a deep breath, Harry concentrated on the image in his mind's eye and Disapparated.

"Bloody hell!" Ron swore under his breath. Harry opened his eyes and saw the Riddle mansion looming above them in much the same way that it had in the memory that Dumbledore showed him last year. He looked around. Nearby was a Muggle town and on their far right was a large forest. Quickly, he motioned his head over to the direction of the forest and they all trooped into it, wands drawn.

"Ron, Hermione, Cho, I want you to keep a look-out outside while I go in and get Meilin. If anything happens, heat up the coin and run here." Harry said in a low serious voice.

"Harry, no. I'm not letting you go get Meilin alone. She's _my _sister and I'm going to help you get her out." Cho protested quickly.

"She's got a point mate." Ron said, shrugging.

"Cho, it's too dangerous..." Harry began.

"And it's not too dangerous for you? Oh please Harry, stop playing the hero again. Cho should go with you." Hermione cut in before Cho could speak.

Harry clenched his fists, "I'm _not_ playing the hero!"

Hermione ignored him, "I'm pretty sure both of you will fit under the Invisibility Cloak, but if not Cho can do the Illusionment Charm oh herself right Cho?"

Cho nodded mutely.

"Sh!" Harry suddenly shushed. They froze immediately, staring at Harry.

"_Massssster isss angry. If he would let me kill that girl, everything would be alright_," a voice hissed close by.

Harry looked at the others, "Did you hear that?" he mouthed.

They shook their heads.

"_I want to pleasssse Massster, but how?_" the voice hissed to itself.

It clicked. "Nagini!" Harry whispered.

Ron, Hermione and Cho blanched.

"_Maybe if you grab a spy for him, he will be happy Nagini_," Harry whispered to Nagini in Parseltongue.

"_What? Who'sssss there?_"

"_A friend. Go on Nagini, go find a spy for your Master_."

"_Ssssshow yourssself!_"

"_Come find me Nagini, come find me._"

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See? I told you! A whole load of crap...Well anyways, now that you've come this far, I hope you'll review, even if it's just to tell me this chapter was a disappointment or whatever. I'm bracing myself for that...

Please review :D


	5. Freedom

Hey all!!! Here's the fifth chapter!! It's a little longer than my other chapters, but I think this is one of my better ones. I'm quite proud of this one. :D Happy reading! and please leave a review!

Big thank yous to my xanga friend MorikoSakurai, by faithful reviewer Sheen Rox and my new reviewer AutumnKate for the encouragement and the reviews!

**Disclaimer:** Basically, if you've read about it from the books, I don't own it. That belongs to J.K. Rowling. I also don't own the name 'Meilin', that belongs to the anime Card Captor Sakura. I own the character though, I just borrowed the name.

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**Secret of the Chosen Heir**

**Chapter 5: Freedom**

"Harry, what on earth are you doing?" Hermione asked as Harry continued to speak in Parseltongue.

"Luring Nagini out so we can kill her!" Harry replied calmly, "Alright, you guys go hide yourselves somewhere and on my signal, do something to freeze her."

"But-" Ron started to protest.

"Go! She's getting closer!" Harry interrupted, waving then away with his hands.

Hiding themselves behind different trees with their wands drawn, Ron, Hermione and Cho got ready. A huge green snake slithered into view and three different spells were shouted at once.

"_Stupefy!_" Ron shouted.

"_Impedimenta!_" Hermione cried.

"_Petrificus Totalus!_" Cho yelled.

Ron's spell missed the snake completely while Hermione's hit it a split second before Cho's. The snake froze into place.

Harry stood in front of it, the Gryffindor sword in hand.

"_You!_" Nagini hissed angriliy.

"_Yes, Nagini, it's me._" Harry said, smirking.

"_Masssster!_" Nagini screamed, "_He'sss-_"

Harry plunged the sword into the snake. Black blood began to spurt everywhere as Harry withdrew the sword and plunged it in again. Finally, the snake fell limp, cut open by the sword.

Harry breathed, closing his eyes to steady himself.

"Harry?" Cho went to him, keeping a wary eye on the dead snake. Blood from the snake was spattered all over him, "_Scourgify!_"

All at once, there were sounds of many footsteps in the forest. Quickly, Harry and Cho ducked behind a tree again.

"Search the forest thoroughly! Nagini is in trouble, find her! And kill whoever else you find!" came the deep cold voice of Voldemort from a distance.

Harry motioned to Ron and Hermione. They managed to tiptoe over.

"The forest isn't a safe place to meet up anymore, we'll have to meet somewhere else!" Harry mouthed silently.

Hermione pointed to the Muggle town they noticed before, then pointed to her wand and made an exploding gesture at the tip. Then, she took out her fake galleon and pointed her wand at it.

Ron looked puzzled, "What?" he whispered, earning a smack from Hermione and a finger to the lips.

Cho nodded at Hermione then turned expectantly to Harry, who was also looking a bit confused. Rolling her eyes, Cho grabbed the Invisibility Cloak and threw it over Harry and herself. Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and began to drag him towards the town while Cho pulled Harry in the direction of the Riddle mansion. Once out of earshot from the forest, Cho risked a whisper.

"We'll meet in the town. Hermione will send up sparks to show us where they are after we heat the coin to let them know we're out."

Harry blinked, "How did you get all that?"

Cho gave him a coy smile, making his heart flutter, "Girls, unlike boys, have a brain and know how to use it."

"Hey!" he protested indignantly. He was about the say something more when they reached the mansion door. It was half opened, so they slipped inside.

"Cho, I'm going to see where Meilin might possibly be. You stay here with the cloak, I'll be right back."

"No! You take the cloak. I'll be safe here in the shadows, but you have to stay hidden."

"But-"

"Harry, go!" She slipped out from beneath the cloak and gave him a small push.

He smiled, "Alright, I'll be right back."

Cho retreated to the darkest corner of the hallway, after she felt Harry's presence shift away. A hand clamped on her shoulder from behind and covered her mouth as she gave a small gasp.

"You have 5 minutes. Second floor, 3 door on the left." a voice hissed into her ear.

She nodded, eyes wide with terror and shock.

"And," the voice lowered, "Take Draco Malfoy with you."

She nodded again.

The hands released her as the sound of running footsteps came closer. She whirled around to see who it was, but saw only darkness.

"Cho?" Harry's voice came, making her jump.

"Harry!" Cho quickly slipped beneath the cloak and clung to Harry's shirt.

"I couldn't find any-"

"Second floor, 3 door on the left," Cho whispered.

"What?"

"That's where Meilin is! We have 5 minutes! Hurry Harry!" Cho whispered urgently. Harry nodded, still confused on where she got that information, but stopped questioning her and started to move towards the stairs he had gotten a glimpse of. They ran up the stairs and flew down the dimly-lit hallway until they reached the third door on the left side. It was locked.

"_Alohomora!_" Harry whispered. There was a soft click and they opened it cautiously.

"Who's there!" A cold voice shouted. Without thinking, Harry pointed his wand in the direction of the voice and fired a Stunner. There was a thud as the person hit the floor.

Cho threw off the cloak and ran to the bed where Meilin was sleeping, "Mei?"

Meilin's eyes fluttered open, "Cho?"

"Oh Mei!" Cho pulled her little sister into a fierce hug, crying tears of joy.

"Cho, we don't have much time." Harry said quietly, not wanting to ruin the moment, but needing to.

"Oh right, ok. Mei, we're getting you out of here." Cho said, wiping her tears away.

"What about Draco?" Meilin asked, her eyes now on the Stunned boy lying on the floor.

"Leave him here." Harry said gruffly, "This is where he belongs anyways."

"No!" Meilin cried, "I'm not leaving him!"

"Meilin, we don't have time for this!" Harry tried.

"No! You don't know what's he's done for me! If they find him here and me gone, they'll kill him!" Meilin looked panicked now. She ran to Draco and kneeled beside him.

"Meilin-" Harry began.

"Harry, the-the person who told me where Meilin was asked me to take Draco Malfoy with us..." Cho said uncertainly.

Harry looked at her in disbelief, "What? Who did you talk to?"

"I-I can explain, but we're running out of time! Please Harry, just, let him come."

"Alright fine!" Harry growled, turning away.

Cho wrapped her arms around him while Meilin took out her wand and whispered, "_Enervate!_"

"You!" Draco almost flew at Harry if Meilin wasn't firmly grasping his arm.

"Draco, we're getting out of here!" Meilin said.

"So Potter being the hero again is it?" Draco sneered, "Well good, because then I don't have to play the whipping boy anymore."

"The what?" Cho cried as Meilin winced at his words.

"Draco, they'll kill you if you stay here," Meilin pleaded, "Please come with us."

"We don't have time for this," Harry snapped, "Either come with us and live, or stay here and be killed, simple as that."

"Of course Potter would know everything. Oh wait, I thought that was the Mudblood's job of being a know-it-all."

"Draco, stop it!" Meilin said heatedly.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming, but only for Meilin's sake." Draco growled.

"Right," Cho sighed, "Can we Apparate out of here?"

"No, there's a ward on the house. We'll have to get out of the house first." Draco said coolly.

"Let's go then," Harry grunted, clearly restraining himself from punching the daylights out of Draco.

The house was surprisingly quiet as they made their way out. Cho guessed that whoever had talked to her distracted the last of the Death Eaters that remained in the house so they could make a break for it. Once out, Harry grunted the destination to Draco and Disapparated. Cho grabbed Meilin's hand firmly as she reached out for Draco.

"Go ahead Meilin. Don't worry, I'll come right after you." Draco said reassuringly.

Cho Disapparated with her and with one last look at the Riddle Mansion, Draco smirked at the thought of them escaping under Voldemort's very nose and Disapparated after them.

--Later--

"I still can't believe that the lady at the front let us all share one room." Hermione said perplexed.

After everyone had met up in the town, they decided that it would be safest to stay there. Voldemort would probably think that they had run somewhere farther, and so the town would hopefully escape his notice. Hermione managed to find Muggle money in her pocket, so they decided to see if they could rent a room for the night at a nearby motel. The person at the desk gave them a queer look when they asked for a single room for the six of them, but complied and even offered to bring up extra blankets for them, which they gratefully accepted.

"Well, she did, so stop complaining." Draco snapped.

"Oh really, Malfoy, can't you be more polite than that?" Ron scowled.

"No, I'm afraid I can't. What are you going to do about that Weasley? Run to Daddy?"

"Guys, just stop it alright?" Cho said pleadingly. The trio had been giving dark looks and scowls to Draco since he joined them. Ron and Harry were very obviously trying hard not to murder him at every word that he uttered.

"So Meilin, would you care to explain what happened?" Harry said, pointedly ignoring Draco.

"Well...it's hard to say, I don't really know where to start," Meilin replied timidly.

"How about Voldemort kidnapped you in the first place?" Hermione said kindly, "Do you know why?"

"Yes," Meilin sighed. She paused, gathering her thoughts. "I'm in possession of one of his Horcruxes."

There was a collective gasp. Even Draco looked a bit surprised.

"You see, I'm the heir of Rowena Ravenclaw. Voldemort wanted to make Horcruxes out of objects that held a significant meaning for him. So he went for the heirlooms of the four founders of Hogwarts. My mother held one of them. He found out somehow and Imperiused my mother into summoning it for him. After he made it, he didn't bother protecting it with other magic. He knew that it would be impossible for anyone to find out about it."

"So why did he suddenly take you?" Ron wanted to know.

"I don't know. I think he found out that his Horcrux had been passed down and was afraid that the new heir would destroy it."

"And why didn't you?" Harry asked.

Meilin took a deep breath, "Because the object was made so that it would fuse into the current heir's soul. If the heir tried to destroy it..."

"The heir would die too." Draco finished, casting a worried look at Meilin.

"Yes, that's exactly it." Meilin nodded.

"Did you know that you had his Horcrux before he told you?" Hermione asked carefully picking out her words.

Meilin nodded again, "Oh yes, I knew long before he told me. You see, when I was a small child, I always seemed to be able to have my way. Whenever I didn't, whoever denied it of me would mysteriously get hurt. Sometimes, I would end up in a part of the house, but not remember how I got there. Mother figured it out of course. She started me on Occlumency to help me control the Horcrux. Even then, there were times when I felt it gaining power, like when Cho told me the Chamber of Secrets was opened again and two years ago, when Cho wrote home and told us Cedric died. The Sorting Hat had a very hard time deciding whether to put me in Slytherin or Ravenclaw. In the end, it put me in Ravenclaw because I begged it to."

There was a long shocked silence as everyone let Meilin's word sink in. Suddenly, Cho threw her arms around her little sister.

"Why couldn't have the object been passed down to me?" she sobbed.

"The feather chooses the heir, Cho. It's been a part of me since I was born." Meilin said gently patting her on the back.

"But I can't lose you Mei!" Cho cried, "You're the only family I have left!"

Meilin pulled away from her sister and smiled sadly, "I know _jie jie_."

"We won't destroy this Hrocrux." Harry announced after a while.

"What?" Meilin stared at him.

"We won't destroy it," Harry repeated, "At least, not yet. There has to be a way to free the object from it's bond to you."

Hermione nodded, "I could do some research. I'm sure there must be some way, Meilin."

"Besides, don't we have other Horcruxes to destroy too?" Ron added.

"Let's see, there was the diary from second year, the ring that Dumbledore destroyed, then the locket of Slytherin that R.A.B destroyed, then the cup of Hufflepuff that we managed to shatter in the summer, oh and there was Nagini whom Harry killed earlier...that's five right?" Hermione counted.

Harry nodded.

"So all we have left is the piece inside his body and..." she looked apologetically at Meilin, "The phoenix feather of Ravenclaw."

"Don't worry, I won't let anytihng happen to you, _mei mei_,." Cho patted Meilin's hand.

Meilin stood up, "I want to breathe some fresh air, then I think I will go to bed. I'm quite tired."

Cho nodded, "Alright then!"

Meilin stepped onto the balcony and shut the door. Draco was already standing there, she had seen him leave when Hermione started counting the Horcruxes that were destroyed so far.

"You got awfully quiet..." Meilin said softly.

Draco snorted, "They're not exactly my best friends in case you didn't notice!"

Meilin stood beside him and looked into the dark sky, "Why do you put on this facade of coldness all the time?"

There was no answer. Meilin turned to look at him and almost gasped in surprise at the look of pain on his face.

"Draco?"

"Showing emotions is a sign of weakness..." he whispered, almost as if to himself.

"Draco, look at me!" Meilin put her hands on his shoulders and shook him slightly, "That's not true. Showing emotions _gives_ you strength! Holding everything inside of you will kill you from the inside!"

Draco looked down at her and cracked a small smile, "Thanks Meilin."

She sighed, "No Draco, thank _you_. Thank you for protecting me, for supporting me, for shielding me."

"I had no choice."

She laughed softly, "If you didn't, you wouldn't be standing here with me would you?"

He didn't answer.

Suddenly, Meilin reached up and gave him a light kiss on the lips, "Goodnight Draco."

Draco stared at her in shock as she went back inside. He leaned against the railing, trying to sort out what he was feeling. He only felt for Meilin how an older brother would feel for his little sister. She was someone he had to protect, someone he had to shield, nothing more. And yet...

Draco shook his head rather violently, clearing his thoughts. With one last sigh, he turned and slipped inside. The others were seemingly asleep already. Draco crawled beneath his blanket on the hard wood floor and quickly fell asleep.

-An hour later-

Meilin's eyes flew open. She sat up in bed. It was still dark out, but the sky seemed to be a little lighter than before.

_The sun must be coming up soon. I had better do it now._ She thought. Swinging her legs off the bed, she quietly stepped past her sister, whispering a sad farewell, then Harry, who slept near the door. With one last look at Draco, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully, Meilin slipped out the door and ran as fast as her legs could carry her towards the forest.

Safely inside the forest, Meilin caught her breath and began chanting the words that would summon the Ravenclaw phoenix feather.

-Meanwhile-

Draco awoke with a start. Something was wrong, he could feel it. In a flash he was standing up. He froze. Meilin was gone. Cursing, he shook Harry awake.

"What?" Harry said sleepily.

"Meilin's gone." Draco said as coolly as he could, keeping the panic from his voice.

Immediately, Harry snapped completely awake, "What?!"

Looking out the window, Draco saw a faint figure running towards the forest, "There!" he said pointing.

Everyone was awake by now, Cho was on the verge of tears again.

"Let's go." Draco said grimly, Apparating into the forest.

"You don't want to do this," a voice hissed menacingly somewhere ahead.

"I don't care, I have to do it." Meilin's voice responded shakily.

"You know that's not true."

"Stop it! You can't control me!" she screamed, "_Avada Kedrava!_"

"No! Meilin!" Cho shrieked, dashing ahead to where the voices where coming from, Harry and Draco hot on her heels. They came to a terrifying sight.

A few feet in front of Meilin was a a mangled looking phoenix feather. It looked a lot like the feather that disguised as the Gryffindor sword. Instead possessing a warm aura around it, however, this feather had an eerie green aura that spoke only of evil. A green swell of light was rapidly getting brighter around it. Meilin was standing in front of it, hands limply hanging down at her sides. At last, the swell exploded and all of them felt a cold wind pass through them as the feather shattered into a million shards and ceased to exist. Meilin began to fall backwards as the wind passed through her. With a shout, Draco ran to catch her. Her eyes were closed, her fragile face relaxed as if in a deep sleep. But Draco wasn't fooled. She was colder than death itself and there was no pulse, no breath, nothing to testify life within her.

Behind him, Cho was screaming. Harry was trying his best to calm her down, even though he was feeling broken as well. Hermione was also dissolving into tears as Ron stared at Meilin's lifeless body in shock. Draco continued to hold Meilin, sobs racking at his body. Through his unshed tears he saw something clutched in her hand. He pried it out and wordlessly handed the parchment to Harry after he read it.

Harry felt even more crushed as he read the small note in Meilin's beautiful hand.

_This Horcrux will no longer hinder you from your goal Harry. Stay safe and win the battle. Do not grieve for me. I am in a better place now, surrounded by those whom I love. Good luck, I shall be watching over all of you from above. Love, Meilin_

The sun rose, casting a golden light upon them as the tears began to fall at an uncontrollable speed

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Whooo, the ending there was a little weak. Oh well! Hopefully, you guys won't hate me for killing off Meilin. hehehe...should I keep going and include the final battle between Harry and Voldemort? or should I just leave it at this? Let me know what you think!!

Note on the Chinese (in case you were wondering): _Jie Jie _(Pronounced _Jee eh Jee eh_) means older sister, and _Mei Mei_ (pronounced _May May_) means little sister.

Please review :D


	6. Reality

Hello all!!! I am SO sorry about this delay...I got a really bad case of writer's block. Sorry!!!

So, I've had a couple of reviewer who kindly asked me to slow down, so this :points down: is the result! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!!

HUGE thanks to all the people that reviewed this fic last time: Sheen Rox (as always:D), Amy.Lee.Rox., King Jasbon, Chang Kuei, FLifeanddream, diggorykid, AutumnKate, and Avatarfanx2!! You all rule!!

**Disclaimer:** Basically, if you've read about it from the books, I don't own it. That belongs to J.K. Rowling. I also don't own the name 'Meilin', that belongs to the anime Card Captor Sakura. I own the character though, I just borrowed the name.

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**Secret of the Chosen Heir**

**Chapter 6: Reality**

Molly Weasley had only just woken and was starting to prepare breakfast when there was a loud _pop_ of someone Apparating and a series of _pop_s following it. Mrs. Weasley tensed and pulled out her wand. Walking cautiously to the source of the sound outside, she readied herself for attack.

The first thing she saw when she got to the back door was a boy with the silvery hair of the Malfoy family holding a limp girl who looked very much like Cho Chang.

Screaming with horror, Mrs. Weasley fired a hex right toward the boy. Draco managed to dodge it just in time.

"Mum! Stop!" Ron yelled, "It's just us!"

"What's going on here?"

"What's all the screaming about Mum?"

"Yeah Mum, there are easier ways of waking us up you know!"

Mr. Weasley, Ginny and the twins had scrambled to the back door at Mrs. Weasley's scream. They all froze at the sight of Draco carrying a limp girl, Harry holding a fainting Cho and Ron with a supportive arm around a teary Hermione.

"What happened?" Ginny broke the tense silence.

"We'll explain later, but first I think we need to give Meilin a decent burial," Harry said wearily.

"Meilin? As in..." George trailed off, looking at Cho.

"Oh you poor dear!" Mrs. Weasley hurried over to Cho and enveloped her into a hug, "Come, let's get you to bed, you've had such a big shock..."

Cho shook her head, "I want to stay with Mei," she whispered

"Oh, I guess it's all right then. Everyone hurry inside the house." Mrs. Weasley said, wiping her eyes and becoming her usual bustling self again.

Everyone filed into the house, but Mr. Weasley held out a hand to stop Draco.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" he growled.

Draco glared at him coldly, "I'm here because this girl refused to let me die inside the Dark Lord's house and cared enough about me to get me out against everybody will. Does that answer your question, _sir_?"

Mr. Weasley was taken aback, "I won't allow a Death Eater inside my house!" he persisted.

"Dad?" Ginny appeared at the door, "Just let him in Dad. If he does anything funny, there are still eight of us against one of him. Besides, if Harry obviously trusted him this far, couldn't you do the same?"

Mr. Weasley hmphed and went inside without a word.

Ginny sighed, "Come on Malfoy, before he changes his mind."

Draco narrowed his eyes and was about to ignore her when he remembered Meilin's sweet nature. Swallowing his pride, he paused as he passed her at the door.

"Thanks," he managed to choke out.

Ginny stared at him in surprise, then gave a small smile, "You're welcome."

--Later—

Between Harry, Cho, Ron and Hermione, the whole story of how they had rescued Meilin and how she had killed herself came tumbling out quite quickly. When all that needed to be said had been said, there was a long, deep silence.

"So what now?" Ron ventured, "Are we going to kill Him yet?"

Professor McGonagall stood up, "No, none of us is clearly ready to take on You-Know-Who yet. _Especially_ not you, Mr. Potter," she said when Harry was about to protest.

"She's right Harry, we're not ready to launch an attack." Hermione agreed, "I know you want to avenge Meilin and her family, who doesn't? But we need to think rationally right now. We can't just barge in there and start destroying things, we'll all be dead within an hour."

"Agreed. What we need to do at this moment is prepare. I will do what I can at Hogwarts. Meanwhile, the rest of you should start working on your spells and such," McGonagall said briskly, "I bid you all a good day." With that she was gone.

"I think we're ready enough," Harry grumbled as he, Ron, Hermione and Cho went up to bed.

"And _how_ do you think you're going to beat him Harry? Poke him with the sword?" Hermione asked indignantly.

"I know how to use the sword alright?" Harry said defensively.

Hermione snorted, "Honestly Harry, are you blind? You killed Nagini out of the pure luck that you had two spells to freeze it. You won't be so lucky with Voldemort."

"I would've figured it out somehow!"

"Of course Harry, of course. The next thing we know we'll have to drag you out again because you were doing something to get yourself killed!"

Harry glared at her then turned on his heel and slammed the door to Ron's room.

"Just great, Hermione. How am I supposed to get into my room now?" Ron said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh _do_ shut up Ronald!" Hermione said on the verge of tears. She ran into Ginny's room and locked the door.

Ron turned to Cho, "You're not going to run off too are you?"

Cho shook her head, "I'll try talking to Harry. I think you should do the same with Hermione."

Ron nodded, "Well, here goes!" he puffed out his chest and went to Ginny's door.

Cho sighed, walking softly to the door, Harry disappeared behind. She listened for a moment. Hearing nothing, she knocked gently.

No answer.

She knocked again, "Harry? It's Cho. Can I come in?"

There was a defeated sigh, some footsteps and the door opened, revealing a very tired looking Harry. He stood aside to let her into the room, then closed and locked the door.

"Ron likes orange," Harry said in answer to her shocked gaze at the orange walls.

Cho looked at him, "Yes, I see that."

"So what did you want to come in for? Are you going to tell me I'm not ready to take on Voldemort too?" Harry asked bitterly.

She closed her eyes to stop the threat of tears, "You really think you _are_?"

"I don't know!" he cried out, frustrated, "I'm supposed to have a weapon that he doesn't know about, but I don't even know if I have it yet! Everyone's depending on me to defeat Voldemort. I'm trying so hard, but people still don't think I can do it!"

"Are you trying to kill him just because everyone is expecting you to?" Cho asked, surprised at the sudden outburst.

There was a short silence, "No," Harry shook his head, "I want to kill him because he killed my parents and he keeps trying to kill me. I want to keep my friends safe. As long as they are around me, they are potential victims of Voldemort. That's why I want to kill him."

"You are such a hero Harry. That's your nature, but you need to realize that even the hero needs help. Hermione was right in trying to bring you back to reality. You want revenge. And believe me when I saw I want it too. You-Know-Who killed my entire family in less than a week. How do you think I feel? I _loved_ my family more than anything in the world and he took it all away from me in a week. You think I don't revenge? Of course I do! But I'm not ready to do it, and I know it. Neither are you. Maybe it's just because I'm a Ravenclaw so I think through everything before I do it. And you being a Gryffindor, you can just do it without thinking because you're brave enough. Does it matter? I don't want to lose you too Harry! You're all I have left! If you went rushing into something like this without being prepared and _died_, I...I..." Cho trailed off, tears filling her eyes.

Harry wrapped her in his arms comfortingly. Her words swirled inside his head.

"Don't leave me Harry," she sobbed, "Please don't you leave me too."

"I won't Cho," he murmured, "I won't go anywhere without you."

"Good. Because I swear, if you go off and leave me, I'm going to follow you no matter where you go." She hiccupped.

He looked at her and wiped away her tears with his sleeve, "You cry too much you know that?"

"What do you expect me to do? Laugh because my family got killed?" she said, eyebrow raised.

Harry chuckled, "You got a point there."

"As always," Cho leaned her head against his chest again.

There was a comfortable silence while they just stood, holding each other.

"Cho?" Harry said presently.

"Hm?"

"Thanks. You really gave me a lot of sense."

She looked up at him and smiled, "I'm a Ravenclaw. We do that a lot."

Seeing her smile made Harry's heart melt. How long has it been since he had seen such a sweet smile on her lovely face? He bent his head, seeking her lips.

She returned the kiss. It began as a sweet, chaste kiss and gradually began to grow more and more passionate. Their tongues danced around each other's as they pressed themselves closer and closer, trying to consume each other.

A distant crash and a shriek of anger broke them apart. Breathing hard, they stared into each other's eyes for a long time.

"Think we should go see what happened?" Cho breathed.

"Harry James Potter! You open this bloody door right now or I swear I will hex you like I hexed Ron!" Hermione shrieked through the door.

Harry groaned, "What did I do now?"

"Er...be an arse when she was only trying to give you some sense?" Cho offered, grinning.

"Oh, right." He blew his bangs, "I am going to die."

Cho gave him a small push towards the door, "Then you had better open the door before Hermione blows it off."

Harry took a deep breath, "Here we go."

He opened the door wide and prepared to yell the Shield Spell.

"Finally mate! I thought you died in there!" Ron said, chuckling.

Harry stared at him, "Hermione didn't hex you?"

Ron grinned, "Nope. Ginny came to my aid just in time, right Gin?"

Ginny scowled, "No, Ronald. I didn't move at all. Malfoy managed to deflect it."

"Malfoy?" Harry stared at Draco, who wore his typical smirk.

"What? I almost regret saving him there. It would've been _quite_ entertaining watching Weasley being hexed by Granger," Draco drawled.

"Hey!" Ron said indignantly.

Hermione was staring at Draco in shock, all the anger wiped off her face, "You called me 'Granger' and put no insult in a sentence!"

Draco glanced at her and shrugged.

"I think it's high time we all go downstairs before some more violence ensues," Ginny said, giving Hermione a worried look.

"I agree!" Ron dashed down the stairs ahead of them, clearly trying to put some distance between him and Hermione.

"So what happened exactly?" Cho asked, confused.

"Ronald tried to break down the door and managed to destroy the book Hermione was reading at the moment along the way. Hermione shrieked and tried to hex him and Draco deflected the spell right when we turned the corner and saw Hermione looking ready to kill with her wand raised," Ginny explained.

"Oh...wait, 'Draco'?" Harry glanced suspiciously at Ginny and Draco, "What are you not telling me?"

"Oh please Harry, let's just go down now. I'm sure Mrs. Weasley is expecting us by now." Cho said quickly, pulling towards the stairs.

"But-"

"Come _on_ Harry!" Cho interrupted. She grabbed his hand and began to drag him away from the flushing Ginny. Over her shoulder, Cho gave Ginny a small wink, then disappeared down the stairs.

"_Reparo!_" Hermione muttered, then went after them. The broken door and destroyed book magically put themselves back together so it looked as if nothing had happened.

Draco turned to Ginny, still smirking, "'Draco'?"

"It was a slip of the tongue alright? It won't happen again!" Ginny said defensively, her face flaming.

He shrugged, "if you say so, _Ginerva_." Then, he too disappeared down the stairs, leaving Ginny staring in his wake.

--That night—

The night was still in the Weasley household. Not a soul was stirring, everyone was sleeping quite peacefully it seems. Except one.

Cho Chang was sitting in front of the fireplace, watching the dying embers. Tears streamed down her face as she fought to stifle her sobs. She hugged her knees, feeling lost. She supposed she should go to Harry, but he had so much on his mind. Their 'talk' earlier had confirmed that. So she simply sat there, trying to comfort herself, crying silently for her lost family.

"Hey..." a soft voice called behind her.

Cho quickly wiped her eyes and turned, "Hey Draco." She gave him a small smile.

He sat down next to her, "Been crying again?"

"No..." she swallowed, "Maybe...yes."

He said nothing. Nor was he looking at her. He too was watching the dying embers.

"I just...it just finally sunk in that my whole family is gone," she whispered, "And I'll never see them again. I can't expect Wei to come rescue me from people who bully me. I can't expect Meilin to come to me asking for advice on boys and parties and friends. I can't expect to hear my parents to greet me when I come home and tell me how much they love me and how proud they are of me. It's all sunk in at last"

Still, Draco said nothing. It seemed as though he wasn't listening to her, but he was.

When she began to sob openly, he awkwardly patted her shoulder much like he had done to Meilin a few days earlier.

"Meilin didn't want you to cry," he said after a while.

She sobbed harder, "I just miss her so much! My little baby sister! She was always there for me, no matter what! Even when Mother yells at me, Mei would still be on my side."

Draco sighed, "You know, I miss her too. I mean, she didn't know me at all. She didn't know about all the bad things I did and yet she still cared about me. She didn't want me to get hurt. It's strange, but I cared about her too. I would've protected her from anything and in the end...I couldn't..."

"She really liked you a lot," Cho whispered, her sobs subsiding, "She really did."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I could tell. Mei never looked at anyone the way she looked at you, not even all those boys she used to fancy."

They were quiet for a few minutes, just sitting in each other's company.

"Think you should head back upstairs. If anyone catches us down here together, I'm dead," Draco said presently.

Cho nodded and got up, "Aren't you going?"

Draco shook his head, "No, I think I'm going to sit for a bit longer."

"Alright," Cho turned to the stairs, then looked back at him, "Thanks Draco."

He shrugged.

"You know, you're a lot nicer than you make people think."

He looked at her, his face expressionless. She smiled, waved, then went up the stairs.

Draco stared after her for a while longer. After convincing himself that she was safely in the bedroom, he quietly crept out the back door.

He walked for a bit, but before long, he came to a small pile of freshly piled dirt. At the foot of a pile was a small stone. He knelt in front of it.

_Here lies Meilin Chang._

_January 18, 1994-December 28, 2007_

_A beloved daughter, sister and friend_

_Watching over us from above with love_

Draco gently brushed his thumb over her name. He smiled at the memory of her.

"You left too soon," he whispered accusingly, "You cared to much for others, and not enough for yourself."

There was a soft breeze, ruffling his hair.

"I miss you. You showed me what it was like to be cared about. What have you done to me? Everyone says I've become nicer and it's all your fault," he smiled as the wind breeze became a little stronger, as if in answer to his voice.

"Not that it would concern you. This is what you wanted all along wasn't it? For me to show my feelings and thaw that icy exterior?"

The wind lulled, making everything still once more.

"I have to move on. But you'll always be here," he put his hand over his heart, "You've fought and won for it, and there you'll remain."

He closed his eyes and felt the breeze caress his cheek, "Good bye, my Meilin."

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So how was it hmm? hehehe, I know the whole DracoMeilin thing was a little awkward, but please keep in mind that what Draco feels for Meilin is NOT romantic love. It's more like...brotherly love. Remember in the other chapter he thought of her as someone to protect and shield and stuff? THAT HAS NOT CHANGED! Meanwhile, how Meilin feels for Draco is more like...puppy love...you know? Just to make it clear...

Please review :D


	7. Swordplay

Again, HUGE thanks to my wonderful reviewers: Avatarfanx2, Chang Kuei, Sheen Rox and bhoy1888! You guys make my days shine brighter with your reviews!!

Disclaimer: Basically, if you've read about it from the books, I don't own it. That belongs to J.K. Rowling. I also don't own the name 'Meilin', that belongs to the anime Card Captor Sakura. I own the character though, I just borrowed the name.

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**Secret of the Chosen Heir**

**Chapter 7: Swordplay**

"_Stupefy_!" Hermione yelled.

"_Protego_!" Harry responded. Hermione's spell deflected harmlessly away, scattering the garden gnomes that were starting to return to their holes.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, "For the last time, we're practicing _non-verbal_ spells! You _must_ get used to not shouting out every spell you use!"

"I know, I know! I'm just used to it alright? Let's try it again." Harry sighed.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Cho and Draco were in the backyard of the Burrow, practicing their spells. They had decided to work on non-verbal spells, since it was hard and they did not get to practice very much last year.

"Alright fine. _Stupefy_!"

Harry quickly waved his wand, frantically thinking of the spell. The spell was on the tip of his tongue, ready to roll out.

"_Expelliarmus_!" Harry shouted, unable to hold it back any longer.

"Harry James Potter!" Hermione shouted, exasperated, "You're almost worse than Ron at this!"

"Oi! Don't bring _me _into this! I didn't do anything!" Ron yelled from the other side of the yard where he was practicing with Cho.

"I'm trying! I'm trying!" Harry said, throwing up his hands.

"I think we should take a break," Cho said, giggling at Harry's frustration.

"Agreed, we could all use a break," Draco agreed, putting his wand away.

"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley called from within the house, "Minerva wants to see you immediately! Come in!"

Harry groaned, "What now?"

Ron shrugged, "Mum's been expecting McGonagall to come over all morning, I wonder it's about."

"Well, I better go in then," Harry trudged toward the house, "You guys don't have to come with me."

"We'll wait for you out here then, mate!" Ron nodded, then turned back to Cho, "Alright, I think I almost got it, let's try again."

Cho grinned and sent a Stunner towards him, non-verbally.

Ron blanched at the sudden attack and reeled away just as the stunner went past, "Hey! You weren't supposed to do that!"

Cho stuck her tongue out at him, "You said you were ready!"

"Well, I wasn't ready for _that_!"

Harry laughed along with the rest of them, then turned and went into the Burrow. McGonagall was waiting for him, a young man by her side. He looked Chinese, with well-groomed black hair and deep amber eyes. He was tall and lean, but the thing that drew Harry's attention was the sword that was resting on his lap.

"Ah, Potter, here you are," McGonagall stood, "How are you?"

"Er...good, Professor," Harry responded awkwardly, "You?"

"Fine, fine, Mr. Potter. Now, after you told me about the sword that you gained possession of, I went and thought long and hard about it," she paused, watching his reaction, "And I have come to the decision that you need to learn how to use that sword properly. So, I have found you a swords master."

"A what?" Harry asked, bewildered.

She stared at him, "A swords master. This is James Wong. He may be quite young, but he has enormous talent with the sword. What's more, he has agreed to teach you without payment."

The young man beside her bowed slightly at Harry then extended his hand, "My pleasure, Mr. Potter."

Harry shook his hand, "Er...pleasure to meet you too sir."

"Good, now that it's all been settled, I must attend to my own business. Good day to you, Mr. Potter, James." McGonagall nodded to each of them and left quickly.

"So, Mr. Potter, McGonagall has told me that you are in possession of the great sword of Godric Gryffindor himself! May I see it?" James Wong asked, a twinkle in his eye.

"Er...yeah, sure. It's right here." He took the feather out of his pocket and it automatically reverted back into its true form.

James took it from hi reverently and looked at it carefully, turning it over and over in his hands. Finally, he handed it back to Harry, "A fine sword. But for the moment, you mustn't use it, or we will both be cut to ribbons. Until you are ready to use it, please keep it safe, Mr. Potter."

"Uh, James?" Harry said, feeling a little embarrassed, "Could you call me Harry?"

James smiled, "Of course. You should've said so earlier."

Harry didn't know what to say.

"Now," James said, abruptly changing the topic, "Mrs. Weasley has been so kind to offer us the attic for our lessons and practice. Let's head up there right now."

"Um, James? About what you said earlier, about not using the Gryffindor sword?" Harry ventured as they headed to the attic."

"What about it?"

"What am I going to use instead?"

"These." James waved his wand and conjured up two wooden swords, "This way, we won't give each other anything other than bruises." He tossed one to Harry.

"Why do I have to learn how to use the sword anyways? I mean, I could always use my wand right?"

"Yes, that's true. One couldn't use a wand and a sword at the same time if he didn't learn how, but for you, I think it's best if you could still attack if your wand was taken or broken."

"But wouldn't I get killed before I could get one stroke because it's more hand to hand?"

James grinned, "If that was the case, McGonagall wouldn't have thought to get lessons for you at all right?"

They reached the attic, "Ready?" James asked.

"But you didn't-" Harry was cut short as James suddenly swung the sword at his head, just stopping short of his neck.

"Rule number 1: Don't let your guard down." James said seriously, "You never know when the person next to you or in front of you or behind you will attack."

Harry gulped.

James swung again, this time, Harry dodged.

"Good, but you were expecting it. Try using your sword to block my blow."

And so it went for hours and hours. By the end of the practice, Harry was tired, sweaty, bruised, and hungry. James, on the other hand, didn't seem the least bit tired.

"Very good today, Harry. You're a quick learner." James praised when Mrs. Weasley called them down to dinner.

"Thanks," Harry managed a tired grin, "Are you staying for supper?"

James nodded, "I'll be staying here until you master the sword. Mrs. Weasley has given me the attic to sleep in, the kind woman."

"Harry! There you are mate!" Ron exclaimed. His hair was a mess of leaves and dirt.

"What happened to you?" Harry asked as he slid into the seat next to Ron.

"Oh, my non-verbal spells didn't work and so I was blown back a couple times," Ron grinned, "I'm getting the hang of it though! Isn't that right Cho?"

There was no answer, Cho was staring in disbelief at James and James was likewise staring at Cho.

"Cho?" James choked out.

"James!" Cho suddenly shrieked. She threw her arms around James, laughing delightedly, "Oh James! What are you doing here?"

James hugged her tightly, "I'm teaching Harry how to use the sword. What are _you_ doing here?"

Cho sighed, "It's a really long story, I'll tell you later alright?"

"Uh..." Ron interrupted them, "Want to tell the rest of us what's going on?"

Harry looked almost mad with jealousy, but he said nothing and just put a protective arm around Cho when she sat down next to him.

"Sorry, everyone," Cho said, sheepishly, "You see, James was Wei's best friend."

There was a chorus of "Oh"s.

"My family and his were friends since our parents were children in China. But when we moved to England, we sort of lost contact," Cho continued, "We only heard from each other once in a while and we almost never saw each other. But James would sometimes come to visit us on his own. He and Wei were the best of friends and in a way, he became part of the family. We used to sing together too. He was always a second older brother to me and Meilin."

James nodded in confirmation, then asked, "If you're here, Cho, where's the rest of your family?"

A tense silence reigned.

"Ah, well...you see..." Hermione stuttered, "They're...um...er..."

"They're dead," Cho said flatly, though quietly. Harry's arm tightened around her in comfort.

James looked shocked, "What?" he whispered.

"I'll tell you later alright? Let's not make everyone wait on us," Cho replied, blinking back tears.

"Uh, right then, everybody dig in!" Mrs. Weasley said in an awkwardly cheery voice.

A normal conversation started up and things became livelier again as the tense atmosphere slowly evaporated away. Cho and James, however, picked at their food and didn't really pay attention to much.

"Are you alright?" Harry whispered to Cho.

She nodded mutely and gave him a tiny smile, "I will be."

--A few weeks later—

"Alright, good! I think you're ready duel me now," James announced during their swordplay lesson.

"What?" Harry asked surprised.

"You heard me. We're going to duel. You win, you get to ask one question and I have to answer truthfully. I win, I get the same. Best out of three rounds, ready? Go!"

The clatter of wood lasted a long time and still neither master nor student gave way. Finally, James managed to trip Harry and pointed the sword at his neck before he could get up.

"I win first round," he grinned, "Though that was very good." He moved away.

Harry scrambled up, "Second round, go!"

Again, the two of them seemed to circle each other forever with their wooden swords for an eternity. James lunged his sword pointed at Harry's chest. Harry parried it and suddenly found himself holding his own sword to James' neck.

"How did I do that?" Harry asked, surprised.

"I dropped my sword when you parried the blow and when I went to pick it up, you swung, so the moment I got up, the sword was at my neck," he replied calmly, "Very good tactic Harry."

"Er...thanks."

"Last round, go!"

The last round did not last nearly as long as the others. James was beginning to tire and so was Harry. But fired by the opportunity to ask James the one question that was burning him kept Harry going until he at last wound his way around James arm and disarmed him, then put the sword at his neck.

Harry grinned, "I won!"

James grinned too, "Well done!"

"Alright, my question: What do you feel for Cho?"

James raised his eyebrow, "You're going to waste the question? I don't normally give out information about myself, so if you want to ask another, you do it now."

"I'm sticking with this question." Harry said firmly.

James sighed, "I love Cho like I would love a little sister. That's all, nothing romantic or sexual, got it?"

"That's the truth?"

"You can pour Veritaserum down my throat and my answer will be the same."

Harry relaxed, "I believe you."

James chuckled, "You know, you're a strange one, Harry Potter. But you really care about Cho and for that, I'm grateful."

Harry nodded, blushing a little.

There was a short pause as both of them rested a bit and caught their breaths.

"You know how you asked me the first day how you're going to win a duel if you have a sword and your opponent has a wand?" James asked presently.

Harry nodded, "Why?"

"Because now that you've mastered the technique of swordplay, I'm going to teach you how to use magic through your sword."

"You can do that?"

Now it was James' turn to nod, "Of course, the sword that you use to cast spells must be made by a witch or a wizard, so a Muggle sword wouldn't work for that."

Harry stared at him, "So I get to use Gryffindor's sword now?" he asked hopefully.

James shook his head apologetically, "Not yet. That sword is extremely powerful. One wrong word and the whole house might be destroyed. No, you'll be using a weaker sword for the spells for now, until you can control the magic." He conjured up a plain-looking sword and tossed it to Harry.

"Now, the sword is naturally an offensive weapon, so naturally, the most effective spells to use through the sword are offensive ones," James continued, "However, if you concentrate and train hard enough, you _can_ use defensive spells with it too. But for now, we'll focus on offensive spells."

So they began lessons once more. James made everything look extremely easy, but it wasn't, as Harry found out quickly. The amount of concentration to produce even a spark from his sword was enormous. He had to pour every ounce of mind power he had.

"It's much more difficult than using a wand because there is no magical object that's focusing the power for you, you have to focus everything yourself," James explained gently after a few frustrated tries.

Harry nodded, gritting his teeth. _I can do this. Now, concentrate._ He took a deep breath, _Flagrate_.

There was a large spark and the tip of his sword began to smoke.

_Almost there._ He thought urging the smoke to become flames with his mind, _Come on, Flagrate!_

The tip of his sword smoked more and suddenly there was a small flame sitting at the end of his sword.

James was shouting something, but Harry didn't hear it. His mind was still focused on the flame. He began to move the sword a little bit. A trail of fire followed.

"_Aguamenti_!" James said, softly. A shower of water burst from his sword and put out the fire that Harry made.

Harry collapsed, breathing heavily.

"Harry, that was...amazing!" James said, astounded, "I didn't even expect you to do it non-verbally!"

"I did?" Harry hadn't even realized it.

James nodded proudly, "That's probably why you're completely drained now. You did it non-verbally _and _you held the focus for a long time. That was bloody brilliant, Harry!"

Harry swallowed. He tired, so tired.

"Now you need lots of rest. Don't worry, I'll tell Mrs. Weasley, you just hurry off to bed," He patted Harry on the shoulder, "Oh and here, have some chocolate, it always helps me."

Harry wearily took the Chocolate Frog and popped it into his mouth. Feeling the tiniest bit energized, he managed to get up and get into bed.

James watched him until he closed the door, then headed downstairs.

"Is he alright?" Cho asked worriedly after he had explained everything to Mrs. Weasley.

James nodded, "He'll be fine."

Cho sighed in relief.

"You really love him, don't you?" James commented.

Cho nodded, blushing.

"Well, he really loves you too. I can tell."

Cho looked up at him for a bit, then looked away again, smiling happily, "I know."

"Oh by the way, shouldn't you be practicing your spells with the others?"

She nodded, "I just wanted to see how Harry was doing when I saw you come down alone."

James feigned hurtness, "You didn't come to see me? Oh Cho! That hurts!"

Cho punched his arm playfully, "Live with it then, you big sissy!" She laughed and ran back outside.

"_Pertrificus totalus_!" a voice shouted the moment she stepped outside. Cho quickly conjured a Shield and laughed as Ron sputtered with indignance.

"I thought you would have been too surprised to do anything!"

"Then you should have done the spell non-verbally, Ronald!" Hermione shrieked. Like always, Hermione had mastered the technique before the rest of them, other than Cho since she had to do it for her N.E.W.T.S.

"Let's duel, Chang." Draco drawled lazily, having mastered it himself.

Cho grinned, "Challenge accepted, Mr. Malfoy."

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As you can tell, this chapter takes place quite a while after the previous one, so Cho's grief is still there, it's just not so fresh. How long you want the time between the two chapters to be is your choice. Oh and I hope you guys didn't mind another OC in there. James Wong is based on one of my second cousins in Hong Kong. His personality fit, so I put him in as the sword teacher. Anyways, this story won't continue for very long I don't think, a couple more chapters. But stay tuned til the end!! Don't leave me yet! lol...you guys are awesome:D

Please review :D


	8. Ambush

Hey everyone! Welcome to the next chapter of my fic! This one is a little bit different from the others, you'll see what I mean later. Hope you enjoy and as always, I hope you'll leave a review at the end!

Big thanks to all my reviewers last time: Avatarfanx2, Amy.Lee.Rox, bhoy1888 and Sheen Rox! You know how much I love you guys:holds arms as far apart as possible:: THIS MUCH! hehe...

**Disclaimer**: Basically, if you've read about it from the books, I don't own it. That belongs to J.K. Rowling. I also don't own the name 'Meilin', that belongs to the anime Card Captor Sakura. I own the character though, I just borrowed the name.

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**Secret of the Chosen Heir**

**Chapter 8: Ambush**

Lord Voldemort was restless. He paced up and down within his house and frightened his Death Eaters to no end. Nearly two months had passed since two of his Horcruxes had been destroyed under his very nose and the young Malfoy had been taken. Two months of nothing but waiting and recruiting and initiating. Two months of too little action. That must be changed immediately.

"Severus Snape!"

Snape appeared at the Dark Lord's side immediately, "My Lord?"

Voldemort looked deep into Snape's cold black eyes, "Are you loyal only to me, Severus?"

"I would serve no other, Master." Snape's reply was quick and cold, as it always was.

"Indeed," Voldemort seemed to be momentarily satisfied and began to pace once more, "The secret to my immortality is dying. No doubt Dumbledore has ordered the boy to destroy it completely. Without it, I am vulnerable."

Snape said nothing, but listened carefully.

"My time is running out if we continue to sit here and do nothing! We must make the first attack."

Inwardly, Snape recoiled. _No, please no._

"We will attack Hogwarts at first light tomorrow. Prepare my Death Eaters!"

"My Lord," Snape interjected daringly, "How are we to attack Hogwarts? The castle is extremely well defended against any intruders."

"Severus, my loyal Severus. Do you doubt me?" the Dark Lord's voice was dangerously soft and gentle.

"Never, my Lord!" Snape fell to his knees in front of Voldemort.

"Then you must trust in my plan, Severus." Voldemort gestured for him to rise, "We will have the element of surprise. No one will suspect an attack on a well defended castle. We will win. And so will begin my rule of the wizarding world."

As Severus Snape left the presence of the Dark Lord, there was only one thing on his mind.

_I've got to do something._

--The Burrow--

"Harry? Harry! Are you alright? Harry!" Hermione waved her hand in front of his face.

"Huh? What?" Harry snapped out of his reverie and returned to the present. A group of worried faces peered at him.

"Is everything alright Harry? You look pale." Cho gently pressed her hand against his forehead.

"I'm alright," Harry looked around to check if any of the adults were around, "We need to talk, privately."

"Let's go to my room." Ron headed up the stairs, leading the way.

"_Muffilato_!" Hermione muttered once she, Harry, Ron, Cho and Draco were inside the vibrantly orange room.

"Alright, talk." Draco snapped, looking extremely uncomfortable and out of place with his pale face, hair and eyes.

Harry glared at him, "You don't have to be here."

Draco shrugged, "Would it matter if I was?"

"Stop it, both of you!" Hermione gave them both an angry glare, "Alright Harry, what happened?"

"Voldemort's planning something," Harry stated simply, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration, "He's restless and he wants to _do_ something, but I can't really tell what."

"Does he want to attack?" Hermione asked.

"I think so, but I don't know where."

"What are we going to do?" Cho asked softly.

"I say we attack him first." Draco cut in, "That way, he won't be able to do anything at all."

"I have to agree with him, mate," Ron said, "After all, it only makes sense."

Hermione looked indignant, "No, Ron. The sensible thing to do is tell McGonagall and the others and see what they say."

"I agree with Hermione," Cho nodded.

"Cho?" a voice called from the hallway. "Harry? Cho?"

"I'll go." Cho got up and opened the door slightly, "James?"

"Oh there you are! What are you doing?" James voice floated through the slightly open door.

"Er, nothing really. Just talking." Cho replied, a little uneasily.

"Oh alright then, I won't bother you." Bit by bit, his footsteps faded, "Oh and Cho?"

"Yes?"

"Tell Harry, I want to see him practice more often. He may be mastering nearly all the techniques I've taught him, but we can't afford him to get sloppy."

"Right, I'll tell him." Cho closed the door and turned to the others, "I thought he would never leave."

Harry groaned, "Great, more practice. Like I don't practice enough."

"At least you don't have to continually hear Granger shrieking at Weasley," Draco rolled his eyes.

"Hey!" Ron cried indignantly.

Cho laughed, "Speaking of which, we should _all_ go practice again."

--Later--

"You're not going!" Those were the first words that came out of Molly Weasley's mouth when McGonagall announced that the Order would be attacking the Riddle Mansion at first light the next day, after listening to Harry's premonition.

"Mum!"

"Mrs. Weasley!"

"No! You're not going. I won't have you all putting yourselves in danger again. Once was _quite_ enough!"

"Mrs. Weasley, the Order _needs_ Harry to go. If he doesn't there's no way the Order would know where it was. And if Harry's has to go, we're not going to leave him." Hermione reasoned.

"Actually Molly, we need everyone we can get. I must remain at Hogwarts in case. We will very likely need them all to help," McGonagall said gently.

"Who's going to be leading us then?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Mr. Shacklebolt of course," she replied curtly, "I expect nothing but obedience from all of you, including you, Mr. Potter."

"Is Malfoy coming with us too?" Ron wanted to know.

McGonagall looked at Draco, who was wearing his usual smirk, "Yes, Mr. Malfoy will be joining you as well. There is no reason for him not to."

"I see plenty of reason for him not to," Harry muttered.

The professor rounded on him, "Mr. Potter, may I remind you that trust is an extremely important matter in a war? If you have any issues on this subject, I must ask you to settle it with Mr. Malfoy before you leave tonight, is that clear?"

"Y-yes, Professor." Harry didn't look too pleased at the prospect of making amends with Draco.

"Good," McGonagall turned to everyone else, "Kingsley Shacklebolt will arrive later to go over the battle plans and such. I will return when he comes."

No one spoke when she left. Mrs. Weasley heaved a sigh and bustled into the kitchen with a pale face.

"I'll go check on Mum," Ron offered, following his mother.

"I'll go with you!" Hermione said quickly.

"I'll see you later, Harry," Cho whispered in his ear, "James says he wants to talk to me for a bit."

"Alright, later." Harry grumbled as he was left alone in the room with Draco Malfoy.

"So, Potter," Draco said after a tense silence, "You still don't trust me. I should have known."

"Is there a reason why I _should_ trust you, Malfoy?"

Draco shrugged, "Nor is there any reason why I should trust _you_. After all, you could just kill me right now without warning."

"No, I wouldn't."

"Wouldn't you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Harry glared at him, "Do I need a reason? Why am I even talking to you right now? You could be planning to rejoin your oh-so-wonderful master and spying on us at this very moment."

Draco looked away and remained silent.

"What's the matter Malfoy? Hit a nerve?" Harry smirked.

"I don't plan on rejoining the Death Eaters." Draco's voice was quiet, "In fact, I plan on dying before letting them take me back."

Harry was stunned, "What?"

"I didn't need your friendship, Potter. I didn't need anything from anyone. But you've all provided everything for me, the enemy. I'm grateful. I still don't need your friendship, but I want you to trust me when I say that I would never do anything to betray any of you here." The words came out in a rush and Draco became silent once more.

"I trust you," Harry said slowly after a short pause, "I mean, I can trust that you wouldn't betray us. If you would, you would've done it already, so I guess I can believe you."

Draco looked at him from the corner of his eye and cracked a smile so small, Harry almost missed it, "Thanks, I guess."

"Well, now that you too are on better terms with each other, I think it's your turn, Ron." Hermione's cheerful voice startled them.

"Weasley. Granger," Draco acknowledged with a nod.

"Malfoy," Ron looked uncomfortable.

Hermione held out her hand. Draco looked at it, then slowly took it. They shook. Ron did the same after a lot of probing from Hermione.

"Good, now let's all go into the kitchen for tea. No Harry, you don't need to go get Cho and James, I did that already."

--That night--

"I can't believe we're staying here again!" grumbled Ron. In order for them to attack Voldemort at down tomorrow, Kingsley Shacklebolt had taken Harry's suggestion and had everyone stay at the same Muggle motel that the trio had stayed with Cho, Meilin and Draco that fateful night.

"Well, at least we're far enough from his house so he doesn't detect us and close enough that we can take the scope of our surroundings," Hermione said in her ever-reasonable manner.

"I'm going to go for a short walk," Harry announced, "I need to clear my head."

"Oh alright," Hermione looked sympathetic, "Come back quickly though, I think Mr. Shacklebolt wanted to go through the plan one more time before we head off to bed."

"Not that anyone will be sleeping properly anyways," Ron muttered.

"Where's Cho?" Harry asked, ignoring Ron's comment.

"She's resting in our room. She didn't look to good when we got here," Hermione replied, "Personally, I wouldn't be either. Too many memories."

Harry nodded. He suddenly wanted to see Cho, but he knew she probably wanted some space at the moment, so he left.

The outdoor swimming pool was closed for the night, but music still poured gently from the loudspeakers that surrounded the area and the pool lights were still lit, casting a dreamy glow. Harry stood still, just listening to the quiet lapping of the water. Everything was coming to an end, he knew. He put his head in his hands, trying to ignore the buzzing inside his head.

_Maybe it's intuition,_

_Some things you just don't question._

_Like in your eyes, I see the missing pieces,_

_And there it goes; I think I found my best friend._

Harry's head snapped up to the speakers. He knew this song. One of his Muggle neighbours had always played it back when he was still living with the Dursleys.

_I know that it might sound more than a little crazy,_

_But I believe..._

He broke into a run heading to Cho and Hermione's room. On the way, he passed the lady at the front desk.

"Excuse me. Could you play that song again when I come down with my girlfriend? I want her to hear it." Harry panted.

"The one playing now? Of course, dear."

"Thanks." Harry dashed to Cho and Hermione's room, "Cho! Cho?"

The door opened, "Harry? What's wrong?"

"Come with me, I want you to listen to something."

"What? Where-" Cho was cut off as Harry grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the swimming pool.

"Harry, what's going on?" Cho asked once they arrived.

Harry shushed her gently and whispered, "Just listen." He nodded at the desk lady, who was smiling at them from the window and the music started once more.

_I knew I loved you before I met you._

_I think I dreamed you into life._

_I knew I loved you before I met you._

_I have been waiting all my life._

"Harry..." Cho whispered, her eyes filling with tears of joy, "It's-it's us! It's about us!"

Harry nodded, taking her into his arms. They swayed to the soft rhythm of the song, her head resting on his strong chest and his cheek resting on her soft hair.

_A thousand angels dance around you._

_I am complete now that I found you._

"I love you Cho." Harry said gently.

"I love you too Harry. More than any words could express." Cho replied, looking into his sea green eyes.

Their lips met once more. They clung to each other, never wanting to let go. Both knew that tomorrow could be the last time they could see each other, that tomorrow, one of them could die. Both of them never wanted tomorrow to come, but wanted this one moment to last forever. Nothing was said, but they knew each other's thoughts. They continued to dance under the star-spattered sky, whispering words of love to one another, sealing each one with a kiss, more passionate and fiery than the one before because they knew, each kiss could be closer to the last one of all.

_I knew I love you before I met you._

_I have been waiting all my life._

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Aw! Wasn't that sweet? hehe...anyways, another **disclaimer** here: I do not own _I Knew I Loved You_ by Savage Garden.

Okiez, only 2 more chapters before it's ALL OVER! hehe...see ya next time y'all!

Please review :D


	9. War

Hey guys! Here it is! The chapter that you've all been waiting for!! Actually, I'm not too happy with it, but meh! You guys can tell me what you think:D

Thanks for reviewing to: Avatarfanx2, Amy.Lee.Rox and Sheen Rox! You guys are simply the best of the best!!

**Disclaimer**: Basically, if you've read about it from the books, I don't own it. That belongs to J.K. Rowling. I also don't own the name 'Meilin', that belongs to the anime Card Captor Sakura. I own the character though, I just borrowed the name.

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**Secret of the Chosen Heir**

**Chapter 9: War**

Harry shivered and stamped his feet, trying hard not to think about the bitter coldness of the morning. Everyone was ready, drawing strength and encouragement from each other for the task before them.

"G'luck mate!" Ron said, thumping Harry on the back, "Cold this morning isn't it?"

Harry peered carefully at Ron, "Are you alright Ron?"

"Yeah, perfectly fine, never felt better," Ron continued to ramble absentmindedly.

"Ron?" Hermione appeared next to them, "What's wrong with him?"

"Hi Hermione!" Ron nearly squealed, "How are ya this fine morning?"

Hermione stared at him for a moment, then threw herself at him. In less than a second, their lips had met in a heated passion.

"Took them long enough," Cho sighed, watching them contently from beside Harry.

"What?" Harry was still shocked at the sudden behaviour of his two best friends.

"Oh Harry, you are _so_ naive!" Cho said in a scolding tone, "Couldn't you tell they've liked each other for ages?"

"That doesn't explain why Ron was acting so weirdly," Harry said stubbornly.

"Doesn't it? Ron wanted to tell Hermione before we went into this, but he was scared, so he started rambling instead."

Harry didn't answer but hugged her quite suddenly, "Please stay safe Cho."

"I would say the same for you," she replied, burying her face in his shoulder.

"It's time," Kingsley Shacklebolt's deep voice cut through the quiet din of voices, "Remember the plan, stay with your groups and good luck."

Everyone fanned out and began to make their way to the Riddle Mansion. Harry caught up to Hermione, "Take care of Cho for me, Hermione."

She gave him a small smile, "Don't worry, Harry. She'll be fine. Besides, even if I can't, I'm sure either you or James would be doing that. All I'm going to ask of you is to stay out of everything that's not part of the plan."

Harry grinned, "Right."

Hermione ran on ahead and took her place.

A twig cracked somewhere, echoing in the silence.

"Who's there?" a gruff voice called out, "Show yourself!"

"It's Malfoy! Draco Malfoy!" Draco called out. Harry felt a wand digging his back as Draco locked his arms. He gritted his teeth.

"Malfoy? Is that really you?"

"Yes, Amycus!" Draco shoved Harry to the ground once they were within sight of the two Death Eaters that were guarding the door.

"Who's that with you?" the other Death Eater snarled.

"That only concerns the Dark Lord. Where is he?" Draco replied coolly.

"He's out," Amycus answered, "Where have you been, Malfoy?"

"Making friends with Potter, where did you think I've been?" Draco snarled, "Where's the Master?"

"Let me who you've got with you," the other Death Eater cut in before Amycus could reply.

Draco shrugged and hauled Harry to his feet again, "Meet Harry Potter!"

Immediately, three Stunners came shooting towards the Death Eaters. Taken by surprise, they had no time to react before they got hit.

"Let's go!" Draco muttered, throwing open the door.

For a while, everyone searched the entire house. It was mostly empty except for a few other Death Eaters that were placed as guards. After they had all been taken captive, everyone regrouped at the front hall.

_Pop!_ Neville Longbottom Apparated clumsily into their midst. There was a large gash on his head that was bleeding freely.

"Neville!" Hermione cried, rushing to him, "What are you doing here? What's going on?"

Neville looked at her, "Hogwarts...attacked! Need...help..." his breathing was laboured.

"Healers! Attend to Longbottom! Everyone else, to Hogwarts!" Kingsley Shacklebolt bellowed. There were numerous _pop_s as everyone rushed to obey.

Hermione supported Neville with her arm, "Neville, how did you know we were all here?"

"Snape...told. He said he...guessed...or something. Sprout and Trelawny dead." Neville panted, his eyes starting to close.

"Neville! Stay awake!" Hermione shook him gently as a Healer came to help him, "Just stay awake alright?"

He nodded faintly. Hermione took one last look at her friend before quickly Apparating to Hogwarts. She arrived outside the gates and was met first with the noise of people shouting and screaming. The Dark Mark shone brightly over Hogwarts, reminding her of Dumbledore's death last year. It seemed to mock the battle below. Taking a deep breath, Hermione flung herself into the battle, hurling hexes and curses everywhere she could see a Death Eater.

Cho was near the castle. She could hear the student's screams of terror from within and fought hard to get inside. She wasn't sure what she would do once she got inside, but it didn't matter at the moment. She hurled another hex over her shoulder and was satisfied with the yell of pain from the Death Eater as his face broke out in boils. Cho was almost surprised at herself. Gone was the girl that trembled at the sight of a fight. Gone was the girl who nearly swooned at the sight of blood. Gone was the girl who never lifted her wand against another human being in attack. The path to the great doors cleared and she flew toward it. As she was about to pull them open, Harry appeared at her side.

"Harry?"

He nodded at her, "Be careful. I can feel Voldemort inside."

"Harry, what are we going to do about the students?" Cho asked.

"Shacklebolt and McGonagall are directing them all to Hogsmeade. Most of them are safe now, the ones who can't fight that is. Some have joined the battle."

She nodded, "I love you Harry."

"And I love you," Harry gave her a kiss much too short for either of their liking, "Let's go."

Together, they pulled the doors open and were met with a terrible sight. Bodies and broken furniture were strewn all over the place. Some students who haven't been escorted to safety were screaming and crying all around them. Death Eaters and some of the Order were engaged in various duels.

Harry looked over at Cho, whose face was set with determination, "I'm going to find Voldemort."

"I'll go help the students." She nodded and hurried over to the students. They couldn't be older than first years from the fear in their eyes as they looked up at her.

"It's alright, I'm going to help you get out of this mess," she soothed, holding out her hand to the one nearest to her. He reached out to take it.

"Well well well! If it isn't little Chang," a high familiar voice rang out behind her.

Cho whirled around, "Bellatrix!"

"I think it's high time that we finish what we started that afternoon, Chang, don't you?" Bellatrix crooned, twirling her wand in her fingers, "Or would you like one of these snippets to convince you?"

She tossed the boy who had reached out to Cho high into the air and dropped him.

"_Arresto__ Momentum_!" Cho screamed. She caught him as he floated down and gently set him down among his friends once more.

"You've gotten better," Bellatrix commented, "But you are still the dirt beneath my feet."

"Leave the students alone Lestrange! This is between you and me." Cho replied, her wand pointed at Bellatrix.

Bellatrix smirked, "Of course." Without warning, she sent out a curse, throwing Cho into a wall. Cho struggled to her feet and sent her own curse towards the woman. Not expecting a counter-attack so quickly, Bellatrix was also blown back, earning a cut on her cheek.

"Quickly, go find McGonagall and get to Hogsmeade. Hurry!" Cho said urgently to the first-years, trying to catch her breath. She cast the Disillusionment Charm on them to protect them as much as possible and pushed them in the direction of Hogsmeade. After she was sure the first-years had moved off to safety, she turned and face to face with Bellatrix. Bellatrix physically slammed Cho into the wall once more and pushed her wand at her throat.

"This ends now, little girl," she hissed, "You've been on my nerves for far too long."

Cho stared at the older woman in terror. Her wand arm was useless to her since Bellatrix was crushing it to the wall with one hand. _It's all __over,__ she's going to kill me._

--Meanwhile--

"Hello Potter," Voldemort's all too familiar voice drawled as Harry entered the Great Hall.

"Voldemort," Harry growled, levelling his wand.

"_Incarcerous_!"

Vine green ropes shot out of Voldemort's wand and circled around Harry, binding him tightly.

"You know Potter, I still don't understand how a snivelling little boy could defeat me. Especially if you can't even defend yourself against the easiest of spells," Voldemort said cordially, drawing closer. Harry's scar began to throb painfully.

"Come, let us see how this battle stands," Voldemort levitated Harry and swept out of the Great Hall, "Ah, I see Bella has continued her duel with Chang."

Harry watched fearfully as Cho was at the mercy of Bellatrix. He tried to yell, but Voldemort had silenced his voice. He struggled against his bonds.

"Ah, the werewolf must learn his lesson," Voldemort said, drawing Harry's attention to Lupin on the other side of the room, duelling with Lucius Malfoy, "What do you think Potter? Death or torture?"

"No!" Harry screamed silently, thrashing wildly, "Don't! No!"

"What did you say Potter? Death? How lovely, I was thinking the same," Voldemort smirked smugly and pointed his wand at Lupin, "_Avada__Kedavra_!"

A jet of deadly green light made its way across the room. Harry watched in horror as everything seemed to be slow down. He saw Lucius smirking and pointing toward the green jet. He saw Lupin turn and meet his eyes for a moment before the jet of light caught him full in the face.

"Lupin! No!" Harry's voice had returned. His bellow rang through all of Hogwarts. The ropes that bound his disappeared and he flew to Lupin's side. His friend's normally weary face was untouched and young once more. It was as if death had left him in peace. Harry's tears fell freely.

"Remus! No, Remus! No!" Tonks had also arrived at his side and began to wail. Curses and hexes flew over their heads, but nothing touched them. Nothing could touch them now. With burning eyes, Harry turned to Voldemort.

"You're going to die Voldemort."

--Cho--

She had heard Harry's cry and saw Lupin fall. Bellatrix's wand was still digging into her throat. When Harry and Voldemort had begun duelling, Bellatrix's grip on her wand hand had loosened slightly. Taking advantage of her distraction, Cho brought her knee up and managed to kick Bellatrix with enough force to make her stumble back, freeing her completely. Before Bellatrix could cast a hex, Cho gave another flying kick and caught her wrist, making her drop the wand. Bellatrix made a move to snatch it, but a blur of motion crashed into her, knocking her flat.

"Cho! The wand! Snap the wand!" James yelled, holding Bellatrix down.

"No!" Bellatrix threw James off with surprising strength and flew to her wand just as Cho stomped on it with all her strength. The was a loud snap and Bellatrix screamed. She took a swipe at Cho's face which Cho barely managed to evade. She swung again and Cho realized Bellatrix was holding a dagger.

There was a clash as the dagger was met with James' sword, "Cho, leave this to me."

She nodded, "Thanks James." She ran towards Harry, knowing he would probably kill her if he saw her. She skidded to a stop as Lucius Malfoy stepped in her path, wand levelled.

Cho deflected the curse he threw at her, "You're sick."

"What have you done to my son, whore?" Lucius snarled as he deflected her hex.

"Nothing. Just helped him become human."

"He's weak to give into you."

"He's stronger than you can dream."

"_Crucio_!" Cho couldn't move in time. The curse hit her and for the first time that night, she screamed as a wave of hot pain swept through her body.

--Harry--

"You hear that Potter?" Voldemort drawled as Cho's scream cut through the noise, "After you die, she's going to scream like that more as I ravish her, then kill her."

"You won't touch her!" Harry snarled, "_Sectusempra_!"

A deep slash appeared on Voldemort's chest. He looked surprised, "Impressive. That spell went clear through my shield."

Harry felt his wand knocked out of his hand as Voldemort twisted his wand in a way he had never seen before.

"You're wandless Potter, what are you going to do now?" Voldemort asked smugly.

Slowly, Harry drew the sword of Gryffindor and pointed it at him.

"Ah, the sword of Gryffindor. The sword you killed my Nagini with, I assume? It won't work for you this time. _Avada__Kedavra_!"

"_Expelliarmus_!" Harry yelled at the same time.

The two spells clashed and joined together, reminding Harry of the duel in fourth year. He concentrated on the ball of light and willed it to go to Voldemort. It complied, moving faster and faster until it hit Voldemort. Harry snapped out of his concentration and was shocked to see the sword of Gryffindor buried to the hilt in Voldemort's heart. Voldemort looked shocked too as his blood seeped out of his robes and dripped onto the marble floor. He looked at Harry's face and screamed as his life flew out of him.

Harry stumbled back, unable to tear his eyes from Voldemort's slain body. He had done it. Voldemort was dead.

"Harry, watch out!" he heard Cho scream a split second before a burning pain tore through his back. He yelled as he fell on his knees. The pain was more intense now.

"Harry!" a dozen different voices shouted. There was an insane cry that was abruptly silenced as something fell to the floor with a thud. Through his blinding pain, Harry thought he saw the head of Bellatrix roll to a stop a few feet away from him.

"Harry!" Cho fell to her knees in front of him, her face contorted with tears, "Harry, no!"

"Cho..." Harry whispered, watching the tears spill from her beautiful eyes.

"Harry, no...don't leave me!" she sobbed, holding his face in her hands, "Please don't leave me!"

Everything was fading, "I'm sorry."

"No, Harry...please...no!"

"Cho..." Harry took a deep breath, "Don't cry anymore. Smile for me."

She gulped, closing her eyes, "How can I?"

"I want the last thing I see to be you smiling." He could barely get the words out. It was getting hard to breathe, his eyes felt so heavy.

Cho opened her eyes slowly and smiled through her sea of tears.

"I love you." His eyes closed at last and released everything that had been holding him together.

"Harry!" Cho screamed, "No! No!"

Someone whirled her around and crushed her to his chest. She didn't know who it was. It didn't matter anymore. Harry was gone. She trashed wildly, trying to reach Harry again.

"Cho, stop it!" Draco said through gritted teeth, trying to hold her flailing arms down.

"He's dead! He's dead! Harry!" she continued to scream, "How can I live without him? Harry!"

Draco didn't answer but let her do as she wished. He held her tightly in his arms, letting him be something solid she can hold on to. Eventually, she stopped. Draco looked down at her and found her unconscious, tears still running down her face.

"Is she...?" Ron trailed off. He couldn't bear to look at his best friend. He swallowed hard, trying to stop the tears.

"No. She just fainted," Draco said softly. He glanced at the still body of Harry. From his position, anyone would think he was only sleeping. People were starting to crowd around now, forming a circle around the Boy Who Lived, the girl he loved and the former Death Eater.

"Move! Give them some air!" James was warding them all away. He kneeled beside Draco and held out his arms for Cho. Draco hesitated, then handed her over reluctantly.

"Harry..." Hermione was reaching out for Harry's hand. She withdrew quickly at the coldness and buried her face in her hands.

"Draco," Ginny had appeared. She had been fighting with the Order the entire time, "What are we going to do?"

Draco stood and faced her, "We're going to continue living and make Harry's death worth it."

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No more ranting, I know you're all about to kill me!

but please review :D


	10. Heaven

Welcome friends to the last chapter of my fic! Have fun reading and thanks SO much for sticking with me all this time!

Special thanks to my reviewers last time: Sheen Rox, Amy.Lee.Rox., Avatarfanx2, Chang Kuei, "Soa" and "Kat"! Even though most of you wanted to murder me, thanks for the review!! Love y'all!!

**Note**: In this chapter, James and Cho sing a song. **BOLD **means James is singing, _ITALICS_ means Cho is singing, and _**BOTH **_means both are singing..:D

**Disclaimer**: Basically, if you've read about it from the books, I don't own it. That belongs to J.K. Rowling. I also don't own the name 'Meilin', that belongs to the anime Card Captor Sakura. I own the character though, I just borrowed the name. Also, I do not own "Every Night and Day" by F.I.R.

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**Secret of the Chosen Heir**

**Chapter 10: Heaven**

"Harry was my best friend. He wasn't perfect, but he always tried his hardest. Some say he always played to part of the hero, but he was only trying to protect the people he loved. We had a lot of petty fights, but in the end, Harry was always there, forgiving and asking forgiveness. I know I'm not going to be the only one who misses him, but I know that no one will ever be able to replace him." Ron ended his speech.

There was the sound of shuffling as people sobbed into handkerchiefs and comforted those around them. It had been three days since the horrific end of the battle. All the Death Eaters that did not die in battle were placed in Azkaban, awaiting their trials. Some Aurors and other members of the Order of the Phoenix were still in St. Mungo's undergoing treatment. Many died in the war to end all wars, as it was now called. Many gave up their lives for the safety of the wizarding world. Everyone fell still as a petite girl in black dress robes and a veil walked onto the stage with a similarly dressed young man.

"In the memory of Harry Potter," Cho Chang whispered, her voice magically projected. Soft music began to play as James and Cho began to sing.

**How do I live without you?**

_I want to know._

**How do I breathe without you?**

_If you__ ever go_

_**H**__**ow**__** do I ever, ever survive?**_

_**How do I, how do I, how do I live?**_

**Dang ni de lei zai wei xiao zhong hua luo **(When your tears fall while smiling)

**Hui yi de feng chui zhe wo zou wo que qing yuan ting liu** (The winds of memory blow me on, but I'd rather stay still)

_Deng yi ke xin dao shi jian de jin tou hu xi ye hui tong_ (Waiting for a heart until Time's end, even breathing hurts)

_**Ke shi wo ji de ni gei wo de meng**_ (But I remember the dream you gave me)

_Mei yi tian zai ni de huai li deng dai_ (Every day waiting in your arms)

**Mei yi ye wo gan jue ni de cun zai zou guo shang hai** (Every night I feel your presence, passing by hurts)

_Wo hui tou kan_ (I look back)

_**Shi yong yuan dou can lan de ai **_(It is a forever radiant love)

_Zhe yi ci wo jue ding yong gan qu ai_ (This time I have decided to love fearlessly)

**Zhe yi ci wo pei ni kan dao wei lai** (This time I will stay with you to see the future)

_So how do I live_

**How do I live?**

_**How do I live without you?**_

**Dang shi jie dou yi wang wo de shi hou** (When the world has forgotten me)

**Ni de yi qie dui wo lai shuo jin wo cai neng yong you** (All of you, to me, must be held tightly to be mine)

_Wo ming bai yi fen zhen ai de bei hou cang zhe ku he you_ (I understand that behind true love, hides bitterness and sadness)

_**Xin tong de shi hou geng shen ke gan shou**_ (When there's heartache, feelings are felt even more deeply)

_Mei yi tian zai ni de huai li deng dai_ (Every day waiting in your arms)

**Mei yi ye wo gan jue ni de cun zai zou guo shang hai** (Every night I feel your presence, passing by hurts)

_Wo hui tou kan_ (I look back)

_**Shi yong yuan dou can lan de ai**_ (It is a forever radiant love)

_Zhe yi ci wo jue ding yong gan qu ai_ (This time I have decided to love fearlessly)

**Zhe yi ci wo pei ni kan dao wei lai** (This time I will stay with you to see the future)

_So how do I live?_

**How do I live?**

_**How do I live without you?**_

**How do I live without you?**

_How do I breathe without you?_

By the time the sweet melody died away, there was no dry eye to be found in the entire courtyard. Cho closed her eyes, unable to cry. Everything was frozen to her. She was able to sing because she could feel nothing, only emptiness. Even when Harry was lowered into the ground to be buried beside his parents at Godric's Hollow, she had no tears. James put a comforting arm around her, and gently led her away. She didn't look back.

--Three days later--

"You don't have to worry about me, Draco." Cho said without turning her gaze from the window.

"I'm not the only one. Everyone is worried. You don't eat, you don't leave your room, and I doubt you sleep. How can you tell us not to worry?" Draco asked from the doorway.

She didn't answer. Draco heaved a sigh and looked at her. She had become incredibly thin, her hair was dull and lifeless, and if she were to turn around and look at him, he was sure that her eyes would be empty and much of her beauty gone. An image of Meilin looking the same way after he told her the news of her family surfaced in his mind. He pushed it away.

"You need to eat something Cho. You're going to starve to death if you don't eat."

"Would that be so bad?" her voice was quiet.

He whirled he around angrily, "Don't say that again. No one wants you to die Cho."

She blinked at him, then slipped out of his grasp, "Thanks Draco."

"Draco?" Mrs. Weasley appeared at the door, "Kingsley Shackelbolt would like to speak with you."

He nodded, "Thanks, Mrs. Weasley."

He went down the stairs, wondering what the Auror would want with him. Shackelbolt stood as he approached, surprising him.

"Malfoy," he greeted in his deep voice. He looked grave.

"Mr. Shackelbolt," Draco returned, "May I ask why you asked for me?"

"Your father's trial was held yesterday, as I am sure you know," he began, "I'm afraid he has been found guilty of all crimes accused. He will be serving life in Azkaban."

Draco shrugged. He had heard all of this from Snape last night. Snape had been freed, pardoned of all actions for the loyalty he showed.

"After further questioning, we also found out that he was guilty of murdering you mother."

Draco stared at him, shocked, "He killed my mother?"

Shackelbolt nodded gravely, "After you went missing, your mother went into hysterics, continually begging both your father and Voldemort to send people to find you. Voldemort got fed up and ordered Lucius to kill her. He said he didn't have a choice."

"He always has a choice," Draco muttered angrily, trembling.

"If you would like to confront him yourself, I could take you to him now," Shackelbolt offered sympathetically.

Draco nodded, "Please do."

They had only just Disapparated when Cho wandered into the kitchen. Ginny was setting the table for supper.

"Cho!" Ginny said, surprised, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Ginny. I want to take a walk at Hogwarts. Could you tell your mum for me?"

"Of course," Ginny smiled, "Hurry back though."

Cho nodded, "Thanks Ginny. Bye."

Cho Disapparated directly onto Hogwarts grounds since all wards had been lifted at the battle. Hogwarts was a sorry sight. Rubble filled the once clean fields and there were numerous holes where explosions knocked the walls flat. Cho ignored the rubble and began to walk towards the Quidditch field, where she had first met Harry. She looked up at the three goals, letting the memory of their first game wash over her. At the memory of his frustrated boyish face, the ocean of tears that were frozen behind her eyes began to fall. She hugged herself and fell to her knees sobbing until she finally fell asleep from exhaustion.

A soft hoot woke her. The sun was much lower in the sky now, Cho didn't know if she had been sleeping for hours, days, or even weeks, but it didn't matter anymore.

Another hoot brought her attention to the owl standing in front of her. It was her owl, Celeste. Cho stared; Celeste had died the same day her parents and brother were murdered. She had seen the bloody mangled body with her own eyes. Celeste hooted again at her and took flight. Startled, Cho ran after her.

"Celeste! Wait!" Cho called, trying her hardest to catch up. Finally, she stopped for breath at the lake. Celeste was perched on a rock, watching her.

"Celeste," Cho reached out to stroke her, but her hands went through air as Celeste disappeared. Cho looked all around. She was alone.

A sad mournful song filled the air. Cho gasped as Fawkes appeared, soaring over the lake. Without realizing it, she began to walk towards him, into the lake. Just as she reached out to Fawkes, she felt something pull her under the lake. She was pulled deeper and deeper. Her lungs were on fire. Slowly, ever so slowly, she stopped struggling and relaxed, her mouth opening and filling her lungs with water.

She was lifting now. She had never felt so light in her life. She floated out of the water and looked around her. She was surprised to see Draco Malfoy crawling out of the water with her body. She looked down at herself, but saw nothing.

"C'mon Cho, breathe!" he pumped the water out of her lungs with his wand, "Cho, please. Don't die on me."

"How did you find me?" she whispered to him. She had no voice. He was crying now, his shoulders shaking violently. Touched, she went up to him and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

He whirled towards her, "Cho?" He reached out to grab her, but his fingers only held on to air.

She was lifting again, floating higher and higher above the ground. She felt no fear, only a sense of exhilaration. The sunlight was becoming brighter and brighter, forcing her to close her eyes.

When she could open her eyes comfortably again, she was in an open field under a clear blue sky. She lifted her hand to shield her eyes and realized that she was no longer wearing her mourning robes. In fact, she was wearing the same dress robes she had been wearing at the Yule Ball three years ago.

"_Jie Jie_! _Jie Jie_!" she heard Meilin call.

"Meilin?" Cho looked all around and finally saw her little sister running towards her with a delighted look on her face, "Mei!"

She caught her little sister in a hug, tears falling freely, "I missed you."

Meilin grinned, "I told you I was going to watch over you from above didn't I? But come on! Mother, Father and Wei can't wait to see you!"

Meilin pulled her older sister over the fields and Cho was startled to see Hogwarts standing before her in all its previous glory. Her parents and older brother were waiting for her at the great doors.

"Mother! Father! Wei!" Cho cried, hugging them tightly, "We're finally together again."

"Cho," her mother whispered, "Oh my dear, I am so proud of you."

Many more words and hugs were exchanged in the newly reunited family before Wei broke the moment, "I think there's someone else that Cho wants to see."

Meilin grinned and nodded to someone behind Cho.

Cho turned, "Harry!" She threw her arms around him.

Harry held her tight, "Cho," he drew back a little bit to see her face, "Why did you go in the lake? You could have lived so much longer."

"I told you I would follow you wherever you go," Cho said, tears filling her eyes again, "You promised you wouldn't leave me."

"And I plan on keeping this promise this time," Harry said determinedly.

"Hello Miss Chang," a kind voice greeted gently.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Cho cried. She paused, then a question burst from her lips, "Did I really see Celeste and Fawkes when I...?"

Dumbledore nodded a little sheepishly, "I asked them to visit you as an encouragement for life, but I guess it did not go the way I hoped."

"And the sword of Gryffindor?"

"Time was of essence back then, so I made it easier by asking Fawkes to take it to you, rather than allowing you to waste time searching for it yourselves."

"Professor," Harry said thoughtfully, "I didn't ask before, but the prophecy said that I would have a weapon that the Dark Lord knew not, what was it? Was it the sword of Gryffindor?"

"No Harry," Dumbledore shook his head, his eyes twinkling, "Your weapon was much stronger than that."

Harry looked confused. Cho looked between them, her family and who she assumed to be Harry's parents standing a few feet away. She thought back to the battle. She remembered Harry bound and silenced, Lupin dying, Harry freed from his bonds, herself tortured and Harry suddenly standing over Voldemort's dead body. She forced herself to stop. Then it dawned on her.

"Love..." she whispered, "It was love."

Dumbledore nodded, smiling, "Very good, Miss Chang."

"But I don't understand. Voldemort knew about love," Harry persisted.

"But he didn't _know_ love. Remember when I said that he never what love was because he was never loved and he never loved?"

Harry nodded.

"The weapon that the Dark Lord knew not. You knew love. Tom Riddle knew nothing of such love. He knew you had it, but he could not have the same because he never knew it. Love is mysterious and part of the most ancient magic. When such fierce love arose as Remus died and Miss Chang threatened with death, this ancient magic was released, helping you defeat the one who opposed you."

"Why didn't it work that way for Lily then?" James Potter asked.

"Lily would die before she would watch her son die. Her greatest wish was for her son to live, so the magic released was put upon her son. Harry's greatest wish was to kill the one who killed Remus and will kill Miss Chang if given the chance, so the magic fulfilled it."

There was a pause as the explanation sunk in.

"Love is very mysterious," Dumbledore said again, gently, "But come. Let us put this all behind us now."

"Let's go inside and get something to eat James, we've still got a lot to catch up on with Remus!" Sirius chuckled. Cho had never imagined that Sirius Black would look so carefree and young after seeing the wanted posters of him during fourth year.

Everyone began to head inside, but Cho wanted to stay outside with Harry for a little longer. She waved her family inside, promising to join them a bit later and began to walk with Harry in a comfortable silence.

"I feel rather bad for Draco," Cho said presently, "I've never seen him so upset and broken."

"He loved you," Harry said flatly.

"What?" Cho was shocked.

"He loved you," Harry repeated, "I could tell, especially from up here. He wouldn't say anything to you ever, but he really did love you."

There was a pause,

"Are you jealous?" Cho ventured.

Harry grunted, "I guess, but it was also quite relieving to know that someone would help you heal if you stayed on earth."

"But I came here instead."

Harry held her, "That makes me even more relieved."

"Why?"

"Because now we will never be apart. We can stay together forever."

"But who will help Draco heal?"

"Don't worry; someone has been fancying him from afar for a while now. It's much easier to see from here than when you're actually down there."

"Who is it?"

"See for yourself!" Harry said, playfully, pointing at the lake.

She saw Draco heading back into the Burrow and telling the Weasleys about her death. She saw Ginny rise from her chair and hold Draco to her. She turned back to stare at Harry, "Ginny! I never dreamed..."

"Neither did I," Harry grinned, "I told you it's easier to see from here."

Cho smiled and wrapped her arms around him again, "I love you Harry."

"And I love you Cho and I will love you forever," he replied, sealing his words with a kiss.

"Forever," Cho promised.

Their lips met once more, sealing this promise as those who loved them waited for them in the Great Hall of Hogwarts and as those they left behind mourned for them and continued to live, knowing they are forever watched from above by those who loved them most.

So ends this tale of tragedy, adventure and above all love. Love is what binds us together and makes us human. Though mysterious, love will always exist to fulfil the deepest wishes of those in danger of losing someone special. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not boast, it does not envy, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. At the end of everything, these three remain: faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these...is love.

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Happy ending after all!! hehe, please leave one last review before you leave and thanks again for sticking with me all this time!! I know it was rather difficult during my horrible writer's block!! See y'all in some other story some day:D

Please review :D


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